Stephen A. Smith says he has “no desire” to run for office because he’d rather be a “hell-raiser.”
Appearing on “The Daily Show” on Monday night, Smith said he no longer had an interest in a political bid because he’d “have to give up a lot of money to do that.”
“The way I look at it, the money that I have earned working my ass off all of these years now, I would have to curry favor, which means I would be owned. And I ain’t having that, so I’m not interested in that at all,” Smith told host Jon Stewart.
The 57-year-old sports commentator has publicly flirted with a political run, saying earlier this year that he was “leaving all doors open” for a potential White House bid.
During a NewsNation town hall in April, President Trump said that he’d “love” to see Smith run for president. Both NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.
But on the Comedy Central show, Smith appeared to express no interest in entering the political arena as a candidate.
“I want to be a major player in terms of a voice and a conduit for change,” he said. “I want to make sure that people know that the BS has got to stop!”
“You want to be a hell-raiser. You want to make sure you make people uncomfortable and that they not going to get away with the BS that they been getting away with,” he told Stewart.
“I think the politicians in this country have served to divide us and paint us against one another for their own selfish deeds, and I think that they have contributed to the demise of this country,” Smith said.
“So I don’t mind calling them out at all. I don’t give a damn who it is: It could be a councilman, it could be a mayor, it could be a governor, it could be a senator or a representative, the president himself,” Smith continued to applause.
“I could care less: Whoever needs to go, needs to go.”
