Stephen A. Smith puts ‘presidential aspirations to bed’

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith suggested that he would likely not run for president during an interview on “Hang Out with Sean Hannity,” Fox News reported on Monday.

Smith said that he was “giving strong consideration to being on that debate stage for 2027” and that he would contemplate it in 2026 during an interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning” in February. However, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would not run if doing so meant relinquishing his money when Hannity expressed skepticism about a potential White House bid.

WATCH:

“I’m not giving up my money.”

Stephen A. Smith shuts down talk of a 2028 presidential run.

Full episode drops tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/3fgI4Q0eho

— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) March 9, 2026

“I don’t think I’m running either because I’ve got to give up my money,” Smith said.

“Let me put the presidential aspirations to bed,” he added. “If I have to give up my money, it’s not happening.”

Smith similarly told CBS News’ Robert Costa that he did not want to sacrifice money to pursue the presidency during the February interview.

“Why would you give all of this up?” Costa asked. “All of this money, success, notoriety.”

“Well, I didn’t say I would. That’s the reason why I’ve never announced that I’m running,” Smith responded.

He also asserted that he would make his final decision early in 2027.

“I am not ruling it out because I expect a lot of success to come my way,” Smith told Costa. “And Lord help everybody if the amount of success comes my way ensures that I never have to worry about my quality of life ever again.”

Smith further said during the CBS News interview that if he were to run, he would run as a Democrat.

He has repeatedly criticized Democrats over hot-button topics related to their rhetoric, strategy, and policy.

Moreover, Smith told Hannity during the interview that he would vote for Secretary of State Marco Rubio over most Democrats, with the exceptions of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

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