Stephen A. Smith believes he has emerged as a shock presidential candidate in recent months because the Democratic party currently has ‘no real national voice.’
The ESPN host has been flirting with the possibility of running for president after a national survey revealed last month that he would receive more support than several high-profile Democrat hopefuls in the 2028 election.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com shortly after the survey was released, Smith left the door open for a potential run in three years’ time if the American people call for it, despite stressing that he has no personal desire to do so.
And during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he discussed the idea of a presidential bid once again.
When asked by Fallon why he has emerged as a candidate for the Democrats, Smith says in a teaser clip from Thursday’s edition of the late-night talk show: ‘Folks are nuts, number one. Number two, the Democratic party… they lost. They had a bad few months, we all know this.
‘And even though there’s a lot of qualified Democrats all over the country from a local perspective, governors, mayors, stuff like that… there’s no real national voice. And to moi… they’ve come to me.’
Stephen A. Smith has flirted with running for president again on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show
The ESPN star has emerged as a shock candidate for the Democratic party in recent months
While he has distanced himself on multiple occasions of late, Smith admits he is keeping track of his increasing popularity amongst Democrat voters as he weighs up the possibility of a presidential run in 2028.
‘I did not ask for this. I do not want this. I happen to have a very, very, very good life, very good job… I’m good. Very good,’ the sports personality continued.
‘They even got me in the polls man, I think the number’s up to like 7.6 percent. I watch these things.
‘And I’m saying, “Wait a minute now. I don’t want to do this, but the fact that they’re talking about me this way I must say… I approve this message.”‘
Smith went on Fallon’s Tonight Show just days after making an appearance on The View alongside the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar.
During a heated exchange with members of the panel, the ‘First Take’ host took aim at Democrats who try to claim that president Donald Trump didn’t earn a ‘mandate’ – despite beating Kamala Harris in last year’s election.
He also warned the left against looking at the small gap in vote share and believing they are close to having a winning strategy.
‘I want somebody to step up and recognize: that man in the Oval Office – whether you like it or not – is potent, he’s coming and he wins. You have to find a way to beat him. This way is not the way,’ he said.
Smith recently slammed Democrats who are claiming Donald Trump didn’t earn a ‘mandate’
‘The problem is if you’re the Democratic party and you lost 49.8 percent to 48.3 percent and you’re looking at that 1.5 percent difference.
‘That’s an excuse for you to say: “What we did really wasn’t that bad. We should continue to do that.” No, find a new strategy.’
Smith insisted that he is ‘no supporter of Trump’ and is not a fan of the president’s direction since returning to office.
In particular, Smith ‘didn’t like what (he) saw’ when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House and had a heated exchange with Trump and JD Vance.
The ESPN star conceded that it is possible that some groups – such as Black and Latino voters – might regret voting for the 78-year-old.
‘But in the end, what it comes down to is this: the American people, in their eyes it wasn’t about him. They were voting against what the Democrats were throwing in their direction.’
