Stephen A. Smith, who has suddenly become a rising star on the left, just announced he is no longer considering a run for president. That, however, is not the bombshell of this report.
What is truly interesting is that Smith, who is seemingly moving more toward the center, would consider backing Secretary of State Marco Rubio for president.
Smith may not have been rocking the polls, but he is a big voice and very influential among minority voters, so this is a huge deal for the conservative movement.
As a sports commentator, Smith is far from my favorite, as he is overly dramatic, loud, and is more about being seen than heard, if that makes sense. Having said that, I don’t want to take away from his knowledge because he is a very intelligent person.
He proved that when he ventured out beyond sports and started his “Straight Shooter” podcast. Now, he was venturing into more mainstream topics, including politics, and he pulled no punches.
Most expected Smith to defend the Left, but he did the complete opposite, to the point he expressed frustration and even suggested he might run for president.
While appearing on ABC News’ “This Week,” Smith shook the political world by suggesting he would run for president, elaborating, "I have no choice, because I've had elected officials, and I'm not going to give their names, elected officials coming up to me. I've had folks who are pundits come up to me. I've had folks that got a lot of money, billionaires and others that have talked to me about exploratory committees and things of that nature. I'm not a politician. I've never had a desire to be a politician.”
Smith was only a blip on the radar, but he reminded me of someone like Tulsi Gabbard during the 2020 election cycle. Maybe he was not polling well, but he would have shaken things up on the debate stage.
He recently appeared with Sean Hannity on Fox News, where he finally admitted that he is not going to run, mostly because he has no intention of giving up his income streams to sit in the White House for four years.
He stated, "Let me put the presidential aspirations to bed. If I have to give up my money, it's not happening." That, to me, was not the big news, but what came next was.
While discussing possible candidates he would back, he mentioned Rubio, stating, "He's an adult in the room. There is no questioning his qualifications for the job.” In fact, he likes Rubio more than Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris, the two current Democrat frontrunners.
That will shake the Left, believe me. In fact, the Left is already panicking over the Rubio rise, as we are starting to see hit pieces in the major publications.
For instance, Politico ran a piece about Rubio selling out his moral grounds to do Trump’s bidding. The Guardian also ran a feature piece on Rubio, which, all things considered, was not all that bad. It actually called him the “most dominant US diplomat since Kissinger.”
I like Rubio, and always have. He jumped the gun by running for president in 2016, but that helped pave the way to his future success as both a politician and diplomat. He is shaping foreign policy more than Trump, to be honest, and that is not a shot at Trump but rather a very strong compliment for Rubio.
If you give me a dream ticket in 2028, I would go with Rubio and DeSantis, even though I know it will never happen. The likely ticket is going to be Vance and someone. If it looks like the GOP will lose, I hope Rubio avoids the ticket to avoid the untouchable list from that year’s ticket. But 2032 could be another ballgame altogether, and DeSantis and Rubio would make a formidable team, with the only drawback being that they come from the same state (which means that particular combination is unlikely).
Regardless, Rubio has set himself up wonderfully for the future, and it would not shock me at all to see his name atop the GOP ticket in a presidential election sometime in the very near future. And I would have zero hesitation backing that ticket.
