‘Knock It Off!’ Charles Barkley Pleads With Stephen A. Smith to Stop Entertaining Talk of 2028 Presidential Run

Charles Barkley wants Stephen A. Smith to stop talking about the possibility of him running for president in the 2028 election.

After appearing in a poll with other Democratic Party favorites earlier in the year, Smith has fully embraced discussions about a potential pivot to politics in the future. Though he repeatedly shot down the idea of running for president at first, he appeared on multiple networks and podcasts to talk about the 2028 race and criticize Democrats.

Last week, however, Smith claimed he was officially leaving the door open for a possible run for the highest office. That decision was inspired by his displeasure with the current state of the country.

On a recent episode of Sports Illustrated’s SI Media podcast with Jimmy Traina, Barkley appeared fed up with all the speculation regarding the ESPN commentator.

TRAINA: Speaking of Stephen A., you know, I felt like you were the first guy in the sports media world who sort of — you didn’t go into politics but you would always talk about politics. You probably got asked about it. And now, here’s Stephen A., he’s about to run for president depending on what–

BARKLEY: Jimmy, knock it off! Knock it off! Stop it! Stop it!

TRAINA: Would he not get your vote?

BARKLEY: Stop it, Jimmy! Come on, man. You know I love you, man. Knock it off! Stop it!

TRAINA: Listen, I’m not the one doing interviews every day going, “Well, if I have to run, maybe I’ll run if the Democrats need me. The Democrats are a mess.” I mean, you talk about you picking your spots on what podcast you do. Maybe you could tell Stephen A. like, “Stephen, maybe a few less bookings.”

BARKLEY: Calm down, Stephen A. And Stephen. A is one of my friends, but I’m like “Yo, man. Come on, man. Stop it! Come on!” It had to start out as a joke and he started taking it serious. Come on, man! All I would say is, “Knock it off!” That’s what the best way to phrase it.