Stephen A. Smtih slams Dems, leaves door open to running for president

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith did not hold back when it came to the Democratic Party, and said he’s “keep[ing] the door open” for a potential run for president in 2028.

“I’m not happy with the Democratic Party, so the Democratic Party as it is presently constructed would pretty much need to be purged for me to want to be associated with them,” Smith told CNN “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper on Sunday.

The “Stephen A. Smith Show” host has been toying with the idea of running for president in recent weeks, claiming he’s had elected officials and pundits urging him to run.

STEPHEN A. SMITH ARGUES HE CAN WIN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AFTER DEMOCRATS’ ‘PATHETIC’ 2024 RUN

“I have no choice, because I’ve had elected officials — and I’m not going to give their names — coming up to me. I’ve had folks who are pundits come up to me. I’ve had folks that got a lot of money, billionaires and others, that have talked to me about exploratory committees and things of that nature. I’m not a politician. I’ve never had a desire to be a politician,” Smith said to ABC’s Jon Karl on “This Week” in April. 

Smith claimed Sunday that the Democratic Party was “absolutely positively blowing it” and said Democrats “leaned towards” open borders, high spending and “ravaged our nation” with identity politics and cancel culture. 

“You had people literally scared they were going to lose their jobs if they pronounced the wrong pronoun for crying out loud. It got that bad,” Smith said.

STEPHEN A. SMITH SAYS HE’S STRONGLY CONSIDERING PRESIDENTIAL RUN, HAS BEEN APPROACHED BY POLITICIANS

The sportscaster said the average American wants to live “in peace and harmony” and was mostly focused on kitchen table issues, like paying their mortgage and the price of gas and groceries. Smith blasted both parties as out of touch over the issues truly impacting Americans. 

“I‘m talking about what they preached and what they talked to the American people about more so than what they‘re doing, the kind of messages that they were disseminating was incredibly uncomfortable to listen to and to hear. And I thought that it wasn‘t emblematic of what most Americans are thinking about,” Smith said.

The ESPN host said he’s not prepared or qualified to run for president, but “left the door open” to running for president because his own pastor told him not to rule out running for president out of respect for the people who “love and support him.” 

“I look at our politics, how worse can it get? Do you realize that if you are an elected official, your real work is with the campaign… You realize that you can literally go onto Capitol Hill and all your job is to do is to disagree with the other side,” Smith said.