Previously, I wrote a little about everybody’s favorite bartender turned congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who I believe is gearing up for a presidential run.
In that piece I warned that it’s probably not the best idea to underestimate her chances of being a viable candidate just because she doesn’t happen to be particularly intelligent or what we would usually consider presidential material.
Frankly, I think the days of the well spoken, well-educated elder statesman archetype has long since passed. Replaced instead by the age of the celebrity president and chances are, that phenomenon isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
In fact, the latest contender for the 2028 celebrity presidential race is looking like ESPN’s resident master of provocation, sensation and agitation himself, Stephen A. Smith.
I can practically feel many of you rolling your eyes at the prospect of ESPN’s living personification of a bullhorn megaphone becoming president. But I’m telling you now, just like with AOC, the prospect of a Smith presidential win is far from implausible.
I dare say that with almost universal name recognition, a polarizing love it or hate it persona and the tens of millions of sports fans he has in his corner, he’s even an even stronger presidential contender than AOC. Though, perhaps not nearly as good looking.
Ever since Donald Trump became president back in 2016, many Americans have come to believe that just about anyone from any walk of life can become the most powerful political leader.
Indeed, Trump being twice elected to the Oval Office seems to demonstrate that all of our childhood teachers were on to something when they told us that we could be whatever we wanted to be if we wanted it bad enough.
Trump is such a polarizing figure personally that I think a lot of us oversimplify and at the same time over complicate the circumstances of his ascent.
Sure, he was a successful businessman and real estate magnate but most people my age remember him as the television star who fired people in a bombastic way on a show.
In a lot of ways, Trump has paved the way forward for anyone to throw their hat into the ring. He has successfully convinced many modern Americans that the doors are now wide open for anyone, of any vocation, from any walk of life, to be president.
I’m fond of saying that Barack Obama walked so that Trump could run.
A lot of people don’t consider Obama to be the first celebrity president, but when you look back at the way he hobnobbed with prominent media figures, rappers and all of the late-night comedy show hosts, you can see how I might have that idea.
Over the weekend, I had a conversation with someone at Rehoboth’s Quilt Show of all places that challenged that idea. Our own Mitchell Patrick will tell you that he doesn’t consider himself to be a very political guy. He’ll also tell you that at this point in his life, he’s over the cult of personality presidents, weekly scandals and hysterical news reports that I like to write about.
When I mentioned that it was Obama that made being president an accessible thing for celebrities he chuckled.
Mitchell remarked that the whole celebrity president thing started with Ronald Reagan, who was a phenomenal actor that he grew up watching as a kid. He added that Reagan’s charm, charisma and attitude not only made Americans swoon but also set the stage for presidents to be more than stuffy old men with no personality wearing uncomfortable suits and talking about policy.
After Reagan, there was no going back and the age of the noteworthy president with some sort or quirk or gimmick was all Americans would accept.
He’s likely right about that which makes it even more likely that someone like Smith, who is talented no matter what you think of him, could be president. It helps that he recently received at least two public encouragements from Trump to run for president.
Smith recently appeared on an episode of State of the Union where CNN’s Jake Tapper asked him if he would run for president as a Democrat. Now anyone who watches Smith’s YouTube channel and his ESPN Show knows that he has consistently claimed to be a left leaning independent. He would tell Tapper as much during his appearance.
While it may seem ridiculous to many of you who have spent years watching Smith yell at LeBron James, make no mistake, he has been making several moves that indicate a quiet seriousness about taking a more prominent role in the political sphere.
Ever since the Democrats completely botched the 2024 election, Smith has been on the warpath against them, going so far as to decry their far left tendencies and battling many of their most prominent members over their excesses.
Even more telling is that he has been speaking to more and more right wing figures as of late, something that doesn’t come off as entirely inauthentic, as he has maintained visible decades long friendships with Republicans like Sean Hannity.
However, he has been especially bold in taking on prominent right-wingers on issues that are incredibly inflammatory, such as his recent debate about a potential presidential pardon of Derek Chauvin with the Daily Wires’ Ben Shapiro.
Given his naturally argumentative and combative nature, he is also had no qualms about fighting it out with prominent leftists about his associations, something that makes him look courageous to most independents.
He had particularly amusing exchanges with the harpies on The View over the election results and has been critical of identity politics, general wokeness and the absurdity of the gender madness that has swept the country.
When you combine all of these traits along with the idea that Republicans may be radioactive following a volatile economic situation, you have a recipe for a brand-new celebrity to waltz into the White House.
Again, it may sound ridiculous, but who would have ever guessed that that a loud orange man that used to make cameo appearances in movies, run beauty pageants, and fire people on TV would be one of the most beloved, hated and notable politicians of our time.