Last May, Bill O’Reilly — the former Fox News host fired in 2017 after settling multiple sexual harassment lawsuits — called President Trump live on a NewsNation town hall and asked if he had any advice for Stephen A. Smith’s potential presidential run. Trump didn’t blink.
“I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates,” he said. “And I will tell you, I’d love to see him run.”
Smith, sitting on stage next to Chris Cuomo, put his head in his hands.
Nine months later, Smith told CBS News he’s “giving strong consideration” to running for president in 2028. As a Democrat. Against Trump’s party. The endorsement, it turns out, was not a joke. Or maybe it was, and Smith just didn’t get the memo.
The endorsement that aged like milk
Let’s revisit what Trump actually said, because it’s worse than you remember.
“Stephen A., he’s a good guy. He’s a smart guy. I love watching him,” Trump told the town hall audience. “He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him. You know, a lot of these Democrats I watch, I say they have no chance.”
Read that again. The sitting president evaluated a potential opponent’s fitness for the highest office in the country and landed on: he’s entertaining. Not policy experience. Not a legislative record. Not a single mention of governance. Entertainment skills. And then, in the same breath, said the Democrats have no chance — while endorsing someone who now wants to be one.
One user on X simply responded with “Bruh… Please…” and a GIF of two people howling with laughter. It hit 1,400 views in under eight hours. Another put it perfectly: “The guy who roasts LeBron weekly wants to roast world leaders. DNC primary would be the highest-rated show in history.”
A Democrat who would rather be anything else
🚨NEW: Stephen A. Smith:
“We gotta stop acting like the Democratic Party is the party for the working man and women.”
“Trump won because the working man and women felt that the Democrats were no longer for the working class. They were for the elitist on the left.”
“They were… pic.twitter.com/aISp7WrVcs
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) October 3, 2025
Smith told CBS he’d run as a Democrat because he “couldn’t see myself running as a member of the GOP.” Fine. Except here’s everything else he’s said about the party he’d represent:
August 2025, on Bill Maher’s show: “A damn construction worker could win the Democratic nomination right now, as bad as it is.” On the same show: he’s “disgusted” with the left. Also publicly: he regrets voting for Kamala Harris.
So to summarize: he’s disgusted with Democrats, regrets voting for their last nominee, thinks anyone could beat them, got his loudest endorsement from the Republican president — and wants to carry their banner in 2028.
One X post racked up 183,000 views in eight hours. It didn’t mince words: “We don’t need more celebrity presidents. I don’t care if they’re Democrat.” Fifteen thousand people liked it. Another user posted a collage of prominent Black women in politics, all wearing the exact same expression of exhausted disbelief. The caption: “Stephen A. Smith: I want to be president, maybe! Everybody:” It pulled nearly 500 views before most of the country had woken up.
The most honest or most disqualifying thing a candidate has ever said
Here’s what makes this genuinely fascinating. Smith told CBS: “I have no desire to be a politician, zero. I have no desire to run for office.” Then, without pausing: “I’m not ruling it out.”
He said he’ll spend 2026 studying policy. His exact words: “I’ve got this year coming up, 2026, to think about it, to study, to know the issues.” A man who gets paid $20 million a year to have the loudest opinion in every room just admitted on national television that he needs a year to learn the subject matter. That’s either radical honesty or a disqualification letter he wrote himself.
He has never held office. Never run for anything. Polled at 2 percent in a 2025 Democratic primary survey. He claims “elected officials” and “billionaires” have encouraged him. He named none of them. His $100 million ESPN contract extension, signed in 2025, suggests the network isn’t exactly planning for his departure.
We’ve seen this movie before
Stephen A. Smith is moving closer to a 2028 campaign… spending a few days with him in recent months reminded me of spending a few days with Trump back in 2013-2014. Many laughed at the prospect of a bid. But in an age of celebrity and social media… https://t.co/VrTmJUWtsB
— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 13, 2026
After the interview, CBS correspondent Robert Costa posted on X that spending time with Smith reminded him of covering Trump in 2013 and 2014. “Many laughed at the prospect of a bid,” Costa wrote. “But in an age of celebrity and social media…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to.
The full CBS interview airs Sunday. Smith says he’ll spend the year studying. America will spend the year deciding whether to laugh or pay attention — which, if you think about it, is exactly how the last celebrity president got started.
