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Stephen A. Smith expresses confidence in potential run for president
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Stephen A. Smith sees a potential path to the White House.
The longtime ESPN commentator has been commenting on national politics in recent media appearances on his own platform and various guest spots. It led to Smith being included in a recent survey of potential Democratic candidates. Smith, never lacking in confidence, reacted to the poll by stating he could beat the Democratic politicians ahead of him.
ESPN's @stephenasmith says he could beat ANY of the Democratic contenders for the 2028 nomination–including Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg and A0C.
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) February 5, 2025
“I think somebody like me could actually win," Smith tells @seanhannity of @FoxNews.https://t.co/HLwAPKo3We
Front Office Sports took a look at Smith as a potential presidential candidate, talking to pollster John McLaughlin, who conducted the survey. Smith has made it clear he’s only interested in being POTUS, not a legislator.
“We included his name because there were media reports about him talking about the presidency. But he didn’t come in at zero. He got some support. He certainly got media attention. So he’s probably gone up. But he’d probably have to take a pay cut. Just like President Trump had to take a pay cut. So we’ll see,” McLaughlin told FOS.
FOS points out the paycut could be significant. It was reported by the outlet in December that Smith has been negotiating with ESPN, seeking a deal in the range of $100 million at around $20 million per year.
Time will tell if Smith gets serious about potentially running in 2028.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
