*Stephen A. Smith is not ruling out a presidential run — he is ruling out the conditions that would make one possible.
Awful Announcing reports that the ESPN and SiriusXM host said on a recent episode of Mad Dog Sports Radio that the FCC’s equal-time rule stands in the way.
“I ain’t scared. I’d love to be on that debate stage,” he said, before explaining why a run remains unlikely. Under the equal-time rule, radio and television stations must provide comparable airtime to all qualified political candidates. If Smith were to declare his candidacy, networks like ABC and SiriusXM would be required to offer similar exposure to his competitors.
For Smith, that tradeoff is a nonstarter. “But they require that because I’m in this profession, and because of equal airtime, that I give up my job and my check the moment that I announce that I’m running. Now I’d consider giving this up if I were the President of the United States, I’m not giving this up for a maybe…you want me to run? Fix it. Fix it.”
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His ideal campaign would look very different. “My goal is to be on the debate stage one night, and to be right on First Take and SiriusXM the next day,” he said, adding, “That’s my goal, unless I won the election. But prior to that, my goal is to go right back to work after I finish debating those folks on Capitol Hill. I ain’t allowed to do that, so it can’t happen. It ain’t my fault I’m not running.”
Watch his full remarks in the X/Twitter clip below.
A caller asked Stephen A. Smith if he would consider bringing back the fireside chats as POTUS
“What fireside chats? I don’t know what he means by that, you talking about Hannity and Colmes?” pic.twitter.com/qmeLV43yP6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 19, 2026
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Stephen A. Smith Rules Out 2028 Presidential Run: ‘I Ain’t Giving Up My Money | WATCH
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