Could ESPN's Stephen A. Smith run for president? Experts say yes

Is Stephen A. Smith going to run for president in 2028?

It seems far-fetched, but the ESPN star is leaning into the possibility while ratcheting up his appearances on political talk shows, including his own weekly one on SiriusXM.

On Feb. 15, during a lengthy interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning” with reporter Robert Costa, Smith said “it’s possible” when asked about running for president. Smith also said he would run as a Democrat and gave a timeline as to when he would decide.

“I will make a decision in early 2027,” Smith said. “But I am not ruling it out.”

In the same interview, Smith said: “I’m giving strong consideration to being on that debate stage for 2027. I’ve got this year coming up, 2026, to think about it, to study, to know the issues, et cetera, because I don’t know everything. But I am going to spend this year thinking about that before I make a decision as to what I want to do.”

Neither Smith nor ESPN would comment for this story.

'A serious candidacy'

Smith, 58, was born in the Bronx and grew up in Hollis, Queens. Sports fans need no introduction since Smith is seemingly everywhere on ESPN’s platforms and is well-known for his passionate debating style.

But introducing himself as a serious option should he decide to run for the nation’s highest office in what would be his first political campaign might be a taller order.

Whether it’s in advance of a presidential run or just to expand his reach into the political commentating world, Smith is taking steps to make himself a part of the conversation.

Last September, Smith launched a weekly political talk show called “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.” on SiriusXM’s POTUS channel.

In this case, POTUS stands for “Politics of the United States,” according to SiriusXM’s branding.

But POTUS more commonly refers to “President of the United States.”

Could that actually end up being Stephen A. Smith? Is there any way a Stephen A. Smith presidential candidacy should be taken seriously?

Snicker at your own peril, some experts say.

“I do see it as a serious candidacy,” said Daniel Kelly II, associate dean and clinical professor at the Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport at New York University’s School of Professional Studies. “Maybe 10-20 years ago, no. But today, yes, because I think social media plays a tremendous role.

“If you look at the numbers, he has over six million followers on X, formerly Twitter, five million followers on Instagram, 1.6 million followers on TikTok. He's able to really push the needle. A presidential run not only expands him to transcend sport into politics, into pop culture, but I think also it gives him a voice . . . I think his platform, especially with ESPN, does open up to him being a serious operator in the next presidential election.”

Trump comparison

Smith has been talking politics at every turn for months, from his SiriusXM show to appearances on network and cable television news shows.

The most obvious comparison for any potential celebrity candidate who has never held political office is, of course, Donald Trump, who ran for president in 2016 and won in his first campaign after flirting with the idea for decades.

There are significant differences between the idea of Trump running and the idea of Smith running, according to Paul Brace, the Clarence L. Carter chair of legal studies in the political science department at Houston’s Rice University.

“The difference between him and Trump that I see is Smith doesn't have the legal infrastructure to get him on the ballot, which is fairly formidable,” Brace said. “Nor, to the extent I can tell, does he have the financing network that's necessary to mount a campaign, and think Trump had both of those . . . I'd score [Smith] as probably doing this for profile purposes, but not likely to be a serious candidate.”

Still . . .

“Frankly, at this time when Trump was starting to run, I was telling people, ‘Well, they'll never get anywhere. He doesn't know what he's doing,’ ” Brace said. “I was wrong. So take what I'm saying right now with a grain of salt.”

Smith has a reported annual salary of $40 million from ESPN, SiriusXM and his other ventures. He was asked by Costa why he would give all that up to run for president.

“I didn’t say I would,” Smith said. “That’s the reason why I’ve never announced that I’m running.”

Smith must also consider the competition for the Democratic nomination, which could include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former vice president Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Those candidates have more formidable fundraising operations and deeper party connections.

Since he talks for a living, Smith will sometimes say contradictory things. That’s true when he speaks about sports; to this day, viewers are unsure if Smith is really as big a Knicks fan as he claims to be, for example.

Smith seemed to stake out his overall political philosophy in the CBS interview.

“I'm a fiscal conservative,” he said. “I can't stand high taxes. But I'm a social liberal in the same breath because I believe in living and let live. I pay attention to the desolate and the disenfranchised. Yes, I like strong borders. That's absolutely true. We never needed open borders, but we don't need it to be completely closed either. We're a gorgeous mosaic.”

Maybe start smaller?

If Smith was serious about running for office, could he set his sights a little lower than the White House? Just from the sports world today, former Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is running for a U.S. House seat in Texas, and former broadcaster Michele Tafoya is running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, for example.

“If [Smith] decided that he was serious about politics, he could certainly find a House district that he could run in or a governor's race,” said Ross Baker, distinguished emeritus professor of political science at Rutgers. “But I think he would have to do more than just be sort of a loud megaphone for political opinions in order for people to take him seriously as a presidential hopeful.”

Some attributes that Smith would seem to have going for him are that he is used to being on television, is used to saying things that grab headlines, and is not afraid to bring attention to himself. That could all help — to a point — if Smith decides to get on the debate stage with regular politicians.

“Communication is a key skill for winning the White House and for governance,” said Meena Bose, the Peter S. Kalikow chair in presidential studies and professor of political science at Hofstra. “That said, it’s not just being a good speaker; it's having substance behind that. So that really depends on the agenda that he presents if he in fact chooses to run and how compelling that is. It's a combination of vision and political communication . . . both are needed to wage a viable campaign for the White House.”