Stephen A. Smith is, along with Skip Bayless, Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, and some ESPN executives, responsible for the “Embrace Debate” era of sports television. For more than a decade, just about every show that got on air at a major network featured two or more people debating and yelling at each other about various sports topics — with no one being quite as successful at it as Smith’s First Take.
The man loves to argue, so it should come as no surprise that he fancies himself in a debate against anyone about any topic. Smith has made it clear he wants to talk about more than just sports and does so on his podcast, and with his ESPN contract running up this summer, he’ll have the opportunity to look into other opportunities if he wants. He did something similar in 2018 and 2019, the last time his contract was running up, telling me he’d love to have a late night show or dive into politics, only to stay with the four-letter.
This week, Smith joined Howard Stern in a conversation of legendary media personalities, and the topic of presidential debates came up and Smith made it clear that he wants nothing more than to get a chance to debate Donald Trump.
Stephen A. Smith told Howard Stern he wants to debate Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/dQUdMvQzP5
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 23, 2024
“I would love to be in a presidential debate,” Smith said. “I’d eat him alive. I wouldn’t run for the presidency, but I’d debate Trump any day of the week. Any day of the week. Name the time and place and I’d show up.”
Smith has said he has no real interest in running for president (unless someone showed him he would win in a landslide) but he’s the kind of sicko who watches a presidential debate and says “now that seems fun.” Ever since he showed up to the first debates in 2015, Trump has picked apart the Republican party’s various contenders in debates not by virtue of delivering salient policy points, but by roasting them and none of them knowing how to respond. Smith, unquestionably, would be ready to fire back and at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a Stephen A. vs. Trump debate at some point because it wouldn’t even be close to the most outlandish thing to happen in U.S. politics in recent years.
