Stephen A Smith makes strong hint at 2028 presidential run

ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith is once again dangling a potential presidential run after saying last year he had abandoned the notion.

Smith sat for an interview with CBS News Sunday Morning's Robert Costa, which will air in full on February 15. Costa teased a snippet of the interview in a social media post, revealing that Smith said he was giving "strong consideration" to a 2028 run.

“I will confess to you, I’m giving strong consideration to being on that debate stage for 2027,” Smith reportedly said. “I’ve got this year coming up, 2026, to think about it, to study, to know the issues.”

It's not the first time Smith has suggested he wants the Oval Office, and he has even appeared in some 2028 candidate polls, according to Mediaite.

When asked who his preferred 2028 Democratic candidates are, Smith has previously named both Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro — who was considered a likely candidate for former Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate in 2024 — and Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

However, he has also said he is so disillusioned by the Democratic party that he believes he has no choice but to run himself.

“I’ve been approached by people on Capitol Hill. I’ve been approached by people who are elected officials in office, whether it’s governors or mayors or what have you. People have legitimately, seriously, asked me about it. I have no desire to be a politician, but I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to close that door,” Smith said last April.

A month before that, Smith told USA TODAY that he didn't "give a damn about the office" and said he preferred trading jabs with other sports personalities.

But he also made comments on The View that same month saying he could "beat them all," referring to likely Democratic primary opponents.

Then in June, he ruled out a run entirely during an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

During the episode, Smith said he would prefer to be a "hell raiser" and was not looking to run for president in 2028.

“The way I look at it, the money that I have earned working my ass off all of these years now, I would have to curry favor, which means I would be owned. And I ain’t having that, so I’m not interested in that at all,” he told Stewart.

It's unclear if he still feels as though he'd be "owned" if he does run.

In July 2025, Smith told ABC News that the Democratic Party looked "leaderless."

"I'm certainly not here to cast dispersions upon individuals, but as a body, the Democratic Party just looks very, very bad right now because they look leaderless," Smith said at the time. "They don't have a definitive voice that anybody can depend on."

It's unclear who Smith's primary base of supporters would be, but what's clear is that he has at least one fan who says he'd "love" to see the broadcaster make a run at the Oval Office: President Donald Trump.

"I love watching him. He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him," Trump told NewsNation during a town hall last year. "I've been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you, I’d love to see him run."