Stephen A. Smith says pastor encouraged him to consider 2028 run

ESPN sports talk personality Stephen A. Smith may be considering a run for the White House in 2028, citing the assertion from his pastor and others that “you don’t know what God has planned for you.”

In an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Smith addressed his prospects as a potential Democratic candidate for president in the 2028 presidential election, the state of the Democratic Party and the Trump presidency with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl.

Amid speculation, the TV personality was asked if he was “really thinking about running for president.”

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“I have no choice,” Smith, the star of ESPN’s “First Take,” who recently agreed to a $100 million contract, responded.

He cited input from elected officials, pundits, donors and his pastor as factors that have caused him to consider entering the political arena even though he is “very, very happy” with his “day job.”

“People have walked up to me, including my own pastor for crying out loud, who have said to me, ‘You don’t know what God has planned for you, at least show the respect to the people who believe in you, respect you, believe that you can make a difference in this country to leave the door open for any possibilities two or three years down the line’ and that’s what I’ve decided to do,” Smith said. 

While Smith did not name his pastor, he discussed in a 2023 appearance on “The View” how Pastor A.R. Bernard of Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, was his “spiritual father.” He acknowledged that Bernard would not hesitate to tell him, “You’re not at church enough,” admitting that he does not attend services regularly. 

In his appearance on “This Week” Sunday, Smith listed Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as examples of individuals he viewed as “more qualified than me” to serve as president.

However, he condemned the Democratic Party’s approach to dealing with Trump, commenting negatively on what “Trump is getting away with.”

Smith referred back to an earlier point made by Karl that Trump ally Steve Bannon viewed the sports commentator as the only viable threat to Republicans maintaining the presidency in the 2028 election before reiterating that “I would hope somebody else would step up that’s more qualified than me.”

“If it has to come down to me, it is something I would consider,” he said. “I don’t mind the thought of tussling with these folks at all on the left or the right. All of them disgust me, to be quite honest with you.”

Throughout his discussion with Karl, Smith made his dissatisfaction with the Trump presidency and the Democratic Party clear. He described Trump’s political success as “a byproduct, rather, of the Democratic Party and the fact that they don’t seem to have any mission, any vision, any kind of leadership.”

“Now it’s at a point where they’re getting mocked religiously, and so as a result of that, you’re going to look at him and regardless of the troubles that you think he might bring forth, unless things become disastrous economically, the fact of the matter is the American people have already said during the last election ‘he’s a bit more normal or closer to normal than the Democratic Party’ and that’s where the real problem lies,” he added. 

While Smith acknowledged that the U.S. is “a two-party system,” he expressed concern that “there’s only one party running this country right now because the Democrats have no muscle whatsoever.” According to Smith, “They talk and they talk and they talk, but what can they do? They’ve positioned themselves to do absolutely nothing.”

Smith spent part of the interview criticizing Trump’s policies regarding tariffs while insisting that Democrats did not offer a viable alternative.

“I didn’t hear anything about tariffs from the Democrats before the election. Trump had been preaching about this for the longest time,” he said. 

“They said nothing about it. Instead, they talked about everything from woke culture to cancel culture to abortion rights and all of this other stuff, but that wasn’t going to win the election, and that’s what we have to look at.”

Identifying the central question as “What is it going to take to get the job done,” Smith asserted, “That’s why somebody who’s a sports analyst, for crying out loud, is in the doggone polls.”

He suggested his presence in the polls is “an indictment against the Democratic Party that doesn’t have leadership, it doesn’t have a vision.”

Smith’s name has appeared in a handful of polls that have been taken asking Democratic presidential primary voters which candidate they want to see as their party’s nominee in the 2028 election. Smith registered at 1% support in a poll of 418 Democratic primary voters conducted by McLaughlin & Associates from Feb. 11-18 and was supported by 2% of respondents in a survey of 414 Democratic primary voters conducted by the same group from Jan. 22-27.

ESPN sports talk personality Stephen A. Smith may be considering a run for the White House in 2028, citing the assertion from his pastor and others that “you don’t know what God has planned for you.”

In an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Smith addressed his prospects as a potential Democratic candidate for president in the 2028 presidential election, the state of the Democratic Party and the Trump presidency with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl.

Amid speculation, the TV personality was asked if he was “really thinking about running for president.”

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

“I have no choice,” Smith, the star of ESPN’s “First Take,” who recently agreed to a $100 million contract, responded.

He cited input from elected officials, pundits, donors and his pastor as factors that have caused him to consider entering the political arena even though he is “very, very happy” with his “day job.”

“People have walked up to me, including my own pastor for crying out loud, who have said to me, ‘You don’t know what God has planned for you, at least show the respect to the people who believe in you, respect you, believe that you can make a difference in this country to leave the door open for any possibilities two or three years down the line’ and that’s what I’ve decided to do,” Smith said. 

While Smith did not name his pastor, he discussed in a 2023 appearance on “The View” how Pastor A.R. Bernard of Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, was his “spiritual father.” He acknowledged that Bernard would not hesitate to tell him, “You’re not at church enough,” admitting that he does not attend services regularly. 

In his appearance on “This Week” Sunday, Smith listed Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as examples of individuals he viewed as “more qualified than me” to serve as president.

However, he condemned the Democratic Party’s approach to dealing with Trump, commenting negatively on what “Trump is getting away with.”

Smith referred back to an earlier point made by Karl that Trump ally Steve Bannon viewed the sports commentator as the only viable threat to Republicans maintaining the presidency in the 2028 election before reiterating that “I would hope somebody else would step up that’s more qualified than me.”

“If it has to come down to me, it is something I would consider,” he said. “I don’t mind the thought of tussling with these folks at all on the left or the right. All of them disgust me, to be quite honest with you.”

Throughout his discussion with Karl, Smith made his dissatisfaction with the Trump presidency and the Democratic Party clear. He described Trump’s political success as “a byproduct, rather, of the Democratic Party and the fact that they don’t seem to have any mission, any vision, any kind of leadership.”

“Now it’s at a point where they’re getting mocked religiously, and so as a result of that, you’re going to look at him and regardless of the troubles that you think he might bring forth, unless things become disastrous economically, the fact of the matter is the American people have already said during the last election ‘he’s a bit more normal or closer to normal than the Democratic Party’ and that’s where the real problem lies,” he added. 

While Smith acknowledged that the U.S. is “a two-party system,” he expressed concern that “there’s only one party running this country right now because the Democrats have no muscle whatsoever.” According to Smith, “They talk and they talk and they talk, but what can they do? They’ve positioned themselves to do absolutely nothing.”

Smith spent part of the interview criticizing Trump’s policies regarding tariffs while insisting that Democrats did not offer a viable alternative.

“I didn’t hear anything about tariffs from the Democrats before the election. Trump had been preaching about this for the longest time,” he said. 

“They said nothing about it. Instead, they talked about everything from woke culture to cancel culture to abortion rights and all of this other stuff, but that wasn’t going to win the election, and that’s what we have to look at.”

Identifying the central question as “What is it going to take to get the job done,” Smith asserted, “That’s why somebody who’s a sports analyst, for crying out loud, is in the doggone polls.”

He suggested his presence in the polls is “an indictment against the Democratic Party that doesn’t have leadership, it doesn’t have a vision.”

Smith’s name has appeared in a handful of polls that have been taken asking Democratic presidential primary voters which candidate they want to see as their party’s nominee in the 2028 election. Smith registered at 1% support in a poll of 418 Democratic primary voters conducted by McLaughlin & Associates from Feb. 11-18 and was supported by 2% of respondents in a survey of 414 Democratic primary voters conducted by the same group from Jan. 22-27.