Stephen A. Smith on running for president: ‘I can beat them all’

Stephen A. Smith knows he might not have the political acumen to be president, but he also knows Donald Trump didn’t either.

He’s not on the campaign trail yet, but Smith certainly doesn’t shy away from talking about the possibility of running for president with anyone who asks.

Tuesday morning, it was on The View, when co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who resigned from the first Trump administration after Jan. 6, brought up Smith’s rising favorability in the Democratic polls.

“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,” Smith admitted.

“But I know this much, when you consider who’s one 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.”

This is really Smith’s biggest defense when anyone attempts to downplay his political credentials. Sure, he’s not a political expert or a lifelong politician, but neither was Trump when he ran for his first term as president. Smith has as much political experience as Trump did in 2015, he has similar bravado and he’s a better entertainer. The question is whether he has as much name recognition. Smith’s fame only recently began to transcend sports, whereas Trump worked on building his reach for decades before running for president.

Both relate to their supporters by speaking in generalities and bringing addressing political issues from a macro-level viewpoint. So while Will Cain and James Carville question his political knowledge, the general public might prefer hearing political talk in the same manner as a sports host boiling the NFL down to “Lamar Jackson can’t win a Super Bowl.”