ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith was once “moving closer” to a 2028 presidential run but has now changed his plans.
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Smith told the Fox News host that he is walking away from the idea of a White House run — not because he suddenly loves politics less, but because he is not giving up the money he’s making in media.
“I don’t think I’m running either,” he said, before adding, “I gotta give up my money [and] I ain’t giving up my money.”
Smith went even further, saying, “Let me put that presidential aspiration to bed,” making clear that any talk of a campaign should be considered over, at least for now. That marks a shift from the way he has talked about politics over the last few years, when he repeatedly left the door open to a possible run if the public pushed him in that direction.
At the time, Smith said on CBS Sunday Morning with Robert Costa “I’m giving strong consideration to being on that debate stage for 2027.” He added, “I’ve got this year coming up, 2026, to think about it, to study, to know the issues, etc, because I don’t know everything, but I am going to spend this year thinking about that before I make a decision as to what I want to do.”
He announced that his party affiliation would be democrat. Yeah, because I couldn’t see myself running as a member of the GOP. I’m a fiscal conservative. I can’t stand high taxes, but I’m a social liberal in the same breath, because I believe in living and let live. I pay attention to the desolate and the disenfranchised. Yes, I like strong borders. That’s absolutely true. We never needed open borders, but we don’t need it to be completely closed either. We’re a gorgeous mosaic.”
ESPN Earnings
It was reported last year that Smith signed a five-year ESPN extension worth at least $100 million. Smith later reportedly added a SiriusXM deal worth $36 million over three years.
Smith, a fixture on ESPN’s top NBA pregame show, “Countdown,” previously made $12 million per year with the network.