Stephen A. Smith revealed that he isn’t ruling out a presidential bid, regardless of his reservations, in a Thursday look on “The View.”
“I have no desire to be a congressional figure or a senator, but if you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it,” the ESPN character stated.
Smith has mentioned the topic earlier than. In 2022, he instructed radio host and fellow ESPN character Paul Finebaum he would give it a shot if he thought he might winregardless of having “no desire to ever be a politician.”
In an episode of ESPN’s “First Take” every week later, Smith stated, “If the American people wanted me to run for the presidency of the United States of America, I would strongly consider it. And damn it, I mean it.”
He added, “I mean, listen, it ain’t that big of a standard; I mean, let’s call it what it is. I think I got a shot.”
He then spilled on his radio present final 12 months that the one public workplace he’d be focused on in search of is the presidency, including that he doesn’t assume he’d marketing campaign properly.
“But I know I’d make decisions, and I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d tell you this much: There’d be law and order, and I ain’t talking about Trump-style,” Smith stated.
He emphasised that he wouldn’t go “as far as Trump” along with his immigration insurance policies, and he wouldn’t deny folks citizenship in the event that they have been born to immigrant mother and father on U.S. soil.
Smith — who’s been an occasional visitor on Fox News through the years and sparred with Sean Hannity over Donald Trump final month — instructed “The View” host Sunny Hostin “hell no” when requested if he thinks he’s “qualified” to run for president.
“I like my life. I’m living a pretty good life, but I must confess, I do — I wish I could debate some of these guys. I’d love to be on a debate stage going up against these guys with the presidency on the line,” Smith stated Thursday.
He famous that he’d be an unbiased who wouldn’t be “bought and paid for” ought to he search the White House.
Smith later instructed “View” host Whoopi Goldberg that lobbying can be the “biggest” factor he’d wish to not see in politics.
“Look at the Democratic and the Republican National Conventions, look at the suites, who are in the suites? The billionaires, they’re all running the show, we all know this,” stated Smith in feedback mirroring ones from NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo at this 12 months’s DNC.
“And so, as a result, not to be disrespectful to our elected politicians, but to some degree, they are puppets,” Smith added. “You have to succumb to the pockets of the people. They influence things. They’re not giving you this money for nothing. And I don’t want to do that.”
Democracy In The Balance
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