Stephen A. Smith wants everyone to know he is not running for president.
He also wants everyone to know he would beat Gavin Newsom in a debate. And Kamala Harris. And, in his words, “most of the Democratic Party.”
“Do I believe I would take Gavin Newsom out? Yes, I do,” Smith said recently on his show. “Do I believe I would go against Kamala and beat her? Yes, I do. I think I’d beat most of the Democratic Party because there’s too much dancing and I don’t dance.”
This is a man who, less than a month earlier, went on Sean Hannity’s podcast and told the country to put his presidential aspirations “to bed.”
He was very clear about why.
🚨NEW: Stephen A. Smith: “Do I believe I would take Gavin Newsom out? Yes, I do. Do I believe I would go against Kamala and beat her? Yes, I do.”
“I think I’d beat MOST of the Democratic Party. Because there’s too much dancing — and I don’t dance.” @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/7S87P7ZEPM
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) April 3, 2026
The Year Nobody Could Get a Straight Answer
The tease started in April 2025, when Smith told ABC News he had “no choice” but to consider a presidential run. He said elected officials had approached him. Billionaires had talked to him about exploratory committees. His own pastor had told him he didn’t know what God had planned for him.
Two months later, he sat across from Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and said the opposite. He had no desire to be an elected official. His talents were in commentary, not governance.
By August, he was back on the fence. On Real Time with Bill Maher, he said he couldn’t imagine running for president — but hadn’t ruled it out either, because he was “disgusted with what I’m seeing on the left.”
In between, he launched a political talk show on SiriusXM called Straight Shooter with Stephen A. He made regular appearances on Fox News and NewsNation. He agreed with Elon Musk on social media about forming a centrist party. He told The Hill he wanted to be “a place you’re going to have to come through” if you were running for president.
A January poll found he had the potential backing of 2 percent of Democratic voters.
By February 2026, Smith told CBS he was giving “strong consideration” to a run and planned to spend the year studying. Then, in March, it was over.
The $100 Million Answer
Smith appeared on Hannity’s Hang Out podcast, and the host cut straight to it. He didn’t think Smith was actually running.
Smith agreed. He didn’t think so either.
The reason wasn’t that he felt unqualified — he’d already acknowledged he was “woefully unqualified” months earlier and it hadn’t slowed him down. The reason was his ESPN contract.
Smith signed a five-year extension with ESPN in March 2025, reported to be worth at least $100 million — roughly $20 million a year. Running for office would mean giving that up, and Smith was not interested in giving that up.
“Let me put the presidential aspirations to bed,” he told Hannity. “If I have to give up my money, it’s not happening.”
The presidential salary is $400,000 a year.
The Bed Is Unmade
Within weeks of that declaration, Smith was back on his show doing something that looked nothing like a man who’d moved on.
He broke down Nick Fuentes — the far-right extremist and white nationalist — turning against Donald Trump. Not as a passing reference. As a full segment of political analysis, pulling from the American Jewish Committee’s description of Fuentes, parsing what the fracture meant for the Republican base, and arriving at a strategic conclusion for Democrats.
Stephen A. Smith reacts to Nick Fuentes saying he’s voting Democrat to get back at Trump. pic.twitter.com/XGs7aoCu9K
— KaizerRev (@Kaizerrev) April 4, 2026
That conclusion: do nothing. Sit back. “The more he talks, the more he alienates his base,” Smith said of Trump. “And without his base, he stands no chance.”
This was not casual sports-desk commentary. This was detailed political strategy from a man who said he planned to spend the year studying the landscape.
And then came the debate challenge. Newsom wouldn’t beat him. Harris wouldn’t beat him. The whole Democratic Party dances too much. He doesn’t dance.
He is not running. He just thinks he would win.
The Brand That Won’t Sit Down
His ESPN deal was specifically structured to allow him to “fan out across politics and news,” according to his agent. The network called him “a difference maker.” His agent called him “polarizing, which has been good for business.”
In a little over twelve months, Stephen A. Smith has said he has no desire to run for office, that he has no choice but to consider running, that he can’t imagine running, that he hasn’t ruled it out, that he’s giving it strong consideration, that it’s officially off the table, and that he would beat the likely Democratic frontrunner in a debate.
The only consistent position is the $100 million one.
