Mr. Smith Goes To Washington: The Sequel?
Jake Tapper is taking ESPN's Stephen A. Smith's flirtation with a presidential run seriously enough to have had him on Sunday's edition of CNN's State of the Union.
Smith repeatedly described himself as a centrist and moderate who eschews the extremes. Thus, Smith said that what President Trump has done with the borders was "absolutely necessary." He also condemned "identity politics, woke culture, cancel culture"
But at one point, Smith said:
"I'm fiscally conservative when it comes to my money. I'm socially liberal. I'm liberal when it comes to social issues. Pretty much across the board. I believe in living and let living."
Smith didn't specifically say that he supported abortion rights. But if someone is liberal "across the board" on social issues, the issue at the top of the board would surely be abortion.
The irony--or hypocrisy--of Smith claiming "I believe in living and let living" is glaring.
When it comes to unborn children, Smith's theme could be Paul McCartney's title song from the James Bond movie—"Live and Let Die."
Note: Tapper didn't exactly endorse Smith. But at the end of the segment, when Smith said that as president, he would "call it like I see it," Tapper responded: "a hundred percent," adding that he would have Smith back on the show.
Here's the transcript.
CNN
State of the Union
5/4/25
9:31 am EDTSTEPHEN A. SMITH: I have no problem with what he's done with the borders. I thought it was absolutely necessary. So I definitely think that was a plus, because I was never a proponent of open borders.
And I try not to lean in either direction of the extreme. I'm a centrist and a moderate at heart, and I try to make sure I'm as balanced in my thinking as I possibly can be.
JAKE TAPPER: If you were to run for president, though, it would be as a Democrat, or no? You know what?
SMITH: Uh, you know what ? I'm an independent. I'm a registered independent. I would lean, who leans left.
I'm fiscally conservative when it comes to my money. I'm socially liberal. I'm liberal when it comes to social issues pretty much across the board. I believe in living and let living. So I'm a moderate.
And I would say if I had to run, it would be as a Democrat. But I'm not happy with the Democratic party. So the Democratic Party as presently constructed, it would pretty much need to be purged in order for me to assume that I would want to be associated with them and I would garner their support, because I don't like the way they've gone about doing a lot of things.
Identity politics, woke culture, cancel culture, I thought that was something that ravaged our nation psychologically, because you had people literally scared they were going to lose their jobs if they pronounced the wrong pronoun, for crying out loud. It got that bad.
. . .
All we're doing is engaging in acrimony and hate And as a result, the American citizens are suffering. So when I look at it from that standpoint and I think the kind of impact that I could have as a centrist, as a moderate, as somebody who believes in being sensical and engaging in common sense.
Unfortunately, I believe that if I did take this very, very seriously and I moved forward and I decided that I wanted to be a politician, do I believe I could win your damn right? But it's by default.
It's not because I'm the most qualified candidate in the world, it's because of the state of our politics in the nation's capital, the politicians that we're looking at, and the fact that we don't believe for one second that they are serving the interest of the American people, nor are they interested in it.
People look at me and they know one thing, I would be interested in serving the American people and doing what's in the best interest of this country. That means you, that means me, that means the black community, the Hispanic community, the white community, everybody. Because if all of us are rife with chaos, all that's going to lead to is America's destruction. And why would we want to be a part of that?
So, again, I'm not qualified. There are plenty of people that are qualified, more qualified to be at -- practically everybody. But are you going to win? And are you going to be committed to doing what's in the best interest of America?
I know I'm that kind of person. That much I will say for myself. I'm not interested in division. I'm interested in galvanizing. That's what I'm about. That's what I try to be about. And sometimes you do that by calling it like you see it. And that's certainly something that I have proven I would do. I'd call it like I see it. People would know that.
TAPPER: A hundred percent. Stephen A. Smith, we'll have you back. Thanks so much, good to see you. Thanks for getting up early--I know you're in California.
SMITH: Thank you.
