Stephen A. Smith rebuked an Axios report Monday that claimed some Democrats are pinning their 2028 hopes on a “straight White Christian man,” pushing back on the idea while arguing the party instead lacks clear leadership.
“I hope you’re not attributing something like that to me. I’d certainly never say that. I can tell you that much,” he told Sean Hannity of the report.
“I was on the record on this show telling you the selection should have been Josh Shapiro [in 2024],” he added.
“[Former Vice President Kamala Harris] made a huge mistake by not picking the Pennsylvania governor as her running candidate.”
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Shapiro has been outspoken about his Jewish faith, a factor some, including President Donald Trump, speculated may have prevented Harris from choosing him as a precaution against warding off Muslim voters who were already disgruntled by the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Shapiro denied that assumption, however, accusing Trump at the time of “trying to use me and trying to use other Jews to divide Americans further” while stressing that antisemitism played “no role” in his dialogue with Harris.
The Axios report from Sunday discussed fears among Democratic Party leaders that nominating a woman may be too unpalatable for some parts of the electorate, pointing to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s and former Vice President Harris’ losses to President Trump in 2016 and 2024, respectively.
“Democratic strategists have put it bluntly, with several saying a version of ‘It has to be a white guy,’” the outlet wrote in part.
Smith has set his 2028 hopes on a handful of candidates – Shapiro, Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and, more surprisingly to many, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“I’m sure I got crap for it, a lot of people are coming after me for that,” he said, referencing the fact that he previously went viral for mentioning Rubio on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast.
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“I don’t give a damn. I feel what I feel. I say what I say. I mean what I mean. Marco Rubio is the adult in the room. I think he’s incredibly qualified. Obviously, he’s been a senator for a long time before he became the secretary of state and obviously, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States. He knows what he’s talking about,” he added.
“I think that he would be a prime candidate considering the candidates that the Democrats would roll out there. If it’s not somebody like Josh Shapiro, I don’t see how it’s going to happen because I don’t see anybody else in the Democratic Party in line to go up against him.”
Smith proceeded to slam the Democratic Party as “leaderless” and “rudderless” while adding that he believes “it has been that way for a very long time.”
“Democrats all over the place recognize the fact that there needs to be somebody capable of stepping up to be a leader,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe California Gov. Gavin Newsom fits the bill.
Shapiro, on the other hand, he said, may face some hurdles due to antisemitism, but his leadership shouldn’t be discounted.
“I still think he’s very qualified. I think he has done a good job, state of Pennsylvania. And I think he’s somebody that should be strongly considered.”
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
