Stephen A. Smith Tells The View He’s ‘Not Qualified’ to Be President But Insists He Could ‘Beat’ Any Other Democrat
Stephen A. Smith tore into the Democratic Party, insisting on The View that could “beat” every other potential 2028 candidate for the party despite not being “qualified.”
Smith, host of ESPN’s First Take, visited The View on Tuesday, when he was asked by co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin about Smith’s own talk of a possible 2028 presidential candidacy after his name made a splash in polling.
Smith previously argued his name being floated as a possible candidate for 2028 is only a reflection of the lack of leadership in the Democratic Party, following their losses to Republicans.
This take has earned Smith plenty of pushback, including from longtime Democratic strategist James Carville, who bluntly recommended Smith “shut his fucking mouth” on politics and stick to sports.
Smith insisted on Tuesday he has no desire to run for office, but he’s confident he could defeat any Democrat, pointing to President Donald Trump as an example of a successful political outsider taking control of a party.
Smith said:
“I make of it that citizens, particularly on the left, are desperate and I mean it when I say it: I think I can beat them all. And I have no desire whatsoever to run for office. I am not a politician. I am not qualified, but I know this much: when you consider who is on the other side and how he’s gotten away with saying very little in terms of being coherent and articulating his thoughts clearly and concisely and what have you, this is not something that he’s known to do. Yet and still he has owned the Republican party since 2015, not only has he won, but the Republican’s constituency has said we don’t want anybody else but him.”
The sports pundit blasted Democrats for not focusing enough on issues like inflation and the southern border during the 2024 presidential election. Smith argued Trump’s win has far more to do with voters rejecting Democrats than supporting the actual man.
He argued:
“In the end, if you think about him being impeached twice, 34 felony counts, 34 felony convictions, and they still elected him president, it’s not about him winning. It was an indictment against the Democratic Party and what the Democratic Party was offering to American citizens. We might sit up there there and talk about, hey, you should be a party for the working class, which the Democratic Party was once known for. They’re not known for that right now? Why? Because their message was catering towards others and they forgot about the people that brought them there and elevated the Democratic Party to what it was over the last few decades. That’s why they lost. He didn’t win. The Democrats lost.”
Watch above via ABC.
