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Stephen A. Smith has had lots to say about sports on the air for decades. And in recent years he has stretched his commentary to politics and culture. Starting on Sept. 17, he will be expanding on that front weekly as the host of a live politics-focused radio show on the SiriusXM POTUS channel called "Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith." He will also bring his daily "Stephen A. Smith Show" to SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio, while continuing his longtime gig hosting ESPN's morning show, "First Take."
Along with providing his trademark commentary about what's happening in the news, Smith plans to host a range of Republican and Democratic politicians - anyone who has something interesting to say and can keep up with his high-energy style. Among the guests he plans to have on is his old friend, Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Whether Smith delves more deeply into politics as a participant by running for president in 2028 is still an open question, and a door that he didn't close in a conversation with The Washington Post.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Q: How are you feeling about hosting your own politics show? Why did you decide to do this?
A: I'm excited about it. It's something that I want to do and something I'm passionate about doing. I'm certainly not an aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm a conscientious observer. I care. I'm American. It's important that if you feel something, and you have a voice, and you're passionate about some of these things that don't seem to make sense to you, that you're unapologetic and unafraid in addressing it, because I think that's where most Americans are. Most Americans are not aficionados. They don't know all the intimacies and intricacies of every single issue. What they do is they're able to deduce logic and make sense of things that they're confronted by. And that's what I pride myself in doing and that's what I intend to do. I will call both sides out every single show, every single moment I get. I will spare no one. I'm not here for that.
Q: How would you characterize your political leanings and the orientation of the show?
A: I'm definitely a centrist, but in the same breath I think that both sides periodically try to malign those who are centrists because they accuse you of not having a principled position. That couldn't be further from the truth. And here's a perfect example that I use to express my point: You have pro-lifers and folks who are pro-choice. I am against abortion. But in the same breath, I am totally against believing that I have a right to tell a woman what to do with her body.
Q: What kind of guests are you hoping to book?
A: Everybody. People who have something to say, who resonate with viewers, with listeners, with callers, are people that I want on my show.
Q: Would you have President Trump on as a guest?
A: Without hesitation. He's been invited. I've already reached out to him. I reached out to Barack Obama. I reached out to Marco Rubio. I reached out to JD Vance. I just interviewed Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland [on "The Stephen A. Smith Show"] the other day. I've reached out to Gavin Newsom. I'm not running from anybody and I want them to talk because I want them on the record and I want people to hear what they feel and why, based off of the questions that I may ask. And so I'm looking forward to all of them at some point coming on.
Q: Do you think it's important for the Democratic nominee in 2028 to be willing to do radio interviews and podcasts and new media platforms?
A: Yes, but I got a better answer than "yes" for you. You know what that answer would be? Kamala Harris. You ran from an abundance of interviews during the election. Why didn't you sit down with Joe Rogan? Why didn't you sit with a plethora of other outlets that wanted to talk to you? Trump was everywhere. It didn't matter what.
Q: Have you found that your longtime sports talk listeners are interested in your politics takes?
A: Some people would say yes. Me, I'm not satisfied. I've got over 1.27 million subscribers [to "The Stephen A. Smith Show"]. And obviously we're in a good place right now and numbers have increased by over 30 percent with me [adding] politics and pop culture. But I didn't get to where I am by being satisfied.
Q: Right now, where do you stand on the possibility of a run for president in 2028, something that has obviously generated a lot of discussion and speculation?
A: Same place I've always been. I have no desire to be a politician. I have no intentions on being a politician, but I left the door open, A, because friends and loved ones of mine have asked me to do so and, B, because if these candidates appear to be as atrocious as they've been and we don't see a light at the end of the tunnel to go up against what the other side is throwing in our direction, then will I entertain it? Yeah, I'll entertain it. … If somebody came to me and said, ‘Hey, we think you could pull it off,' and they were convincing enough, I'd still probably say no, because I really, really like my life. And I like the life that I'm living, but I promised people that I care about very deeply that I wouldn't rule it out. So I leave the door open because you never know what God has planned for you.
Q: You've said you've gotten some criticism of your 20-year-long friendship with Fox News host Sean Hannity, on whose show you appear occasionally. Has that given you any pause?
A: Not even a little bit. It's made my friendship with him more resolute, because you're not going to tell me how to think and how I should feel. There's plenty of people that have friends in their lives that don't agree with their politics. All of a sudden, because it's Sean Hannity, it's supposed to be different. I don't want to hear that crap. That's nonsense. He's a die-hard conservative. He believes in free-market capitalism and closed borders and strong national security and stuff like that. He's not some White nationalist or anything like that. Sean doesn't roll like that. I know him, so I don't worry about that. And you know, if it's all about friends being agreeable with one another, then what kind of real friendship is that?