Shaquille O’Neal is not a political analyst, but he played one on The Big Podcast this week, handicapping Stephen A. Smith’s potential presidential run in 2028.
Some political pundits are taking a possible SAS run in 2028 quite seriously. Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville blasted the idea recently, saying, “Are you sh****** me?” Former GOP presidential contender Chris Christie said he thinks it’s “more likely than not” Smith eventually runs.
But anyone expecting a serious evaluation of Smith’s political future from Shaq on his podcast would have been disappointed. Instead, they got a very funny exchange between O’Neal and co-host Adam Lefkoe.
“Are you going to run for president?” Lefkoe asked Shaq.
“I’m already president,” Shaq said.
“Of?” Lefkoe asked.
“Reebok,” O’Neal said.
Lefkoe said he was surprised to see Smith on ABC’s The View recently, talking about a presidential run.
“I turned on The View and … he’s saying, ‘I would win president. I don’t want it,'” Lefkoe said.
Smith has boasted about his potential chances. Referring to possible Democratic presidential contenders, he said, “I can beat them all.” He said recently he’s ready to shake things up (“I’m qualified to be a hell-raiser”).
O’Neal does believe Smith would have a big advantage in a presidential debate or speech.
“He’d give a great speech with those big-a** words he be using,” O’Neal said.
“If you looked up and you saw him on CNN debating … ” Lefkoe said.
“Oh, he would win,” O’Neal said. “Because he would hit the opponent with a big word … whenever you hit a word that somebodys got to look up, you got ’em.”
Lefkoe then launched into a good SAS imitation: “Im flabbergasted that you would say a blasphemous thing …”
“Damn, he be using some big words,” O’Neal said.
“But we’re getting to a point where, your background doesn’t matter as much as, would you be fun to watch argue on TV,” Lefkoe said.
“It would be fun,” O’Neal said. “And you know who his vice president will be? Ochocinco. That will be funny. They’ll probably win, too.”
OK, that part about Chad Johnson being Smith’s running mate took things a bit too far. But Shaq’s observation about Smith using “big-a** words” could probably be cleaned up for a campaign slogan. Barack Obama gave us “Yes We Can.” Donald Trump used “Make America Great Again” twice.
Now we might have, “Vote for Stephen A. Smith: He Uses Big Words.” Carville would definitely have something to say about that line.
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.