Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith said on Monday he thinks former first lady Michelle Obama would easily defeat former President Donald Trump if she decided to run against him in November.
Smith also accused former FBI Director James Comey of election interference for re-opening a probe — just a week-and-a-half before the 2016 election — into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was serving as secretary of state during former President Barack Obama’s first term.
Smith — who makes regular appearances on ESPN as an NBA commentator and analyst — joined former NBA star Kevin Garnett’s podcast “KG Certified” on Monday, where the discussion turned to national politics.
“How far are we from a woman president?” Garnett asked. “How far are we from women in stronger positions?”
The former NBA champion noted that countries in Europe and South America had elected female leaders.
He pressed Smith for his opinion on when Americans would put a woman in the White House.
Smith said Clinton would have been president if she had taken campaigning in the Rust Belt more seriously in 2016 and also blamed Comey for her loss to Trump.
“Well here’s what I would tell you, If the FBI director at the time, James Comey, hadn’t come in at the last minute with some s*** about Hillary and emails,” Smith said.
Stephen A. Smith on Monday said Michelle Obama would beat Donald Trump “hands down” if she ran for president this year.
“That obviously’s not gonna happen. She doesn’t seem to have an interest.” pic.twitter.com/9nsypDt0nZ
— The Recount (@therecount) May 14, 2024
He added, “[If] Hillary I believe had campaigned in Wisconsin and Philadelphia in the waning days before the election, I think you would’ve had a female president in 2016.”
When Garnett expressed his surprise at the take, Smith replied, “I think that she was that close.”
Smith then stated he believed another former first lady would easily when, were she to run a campaign as a Democrat this fall.
“And I think that Michelle Obama would win right now if she were to run,” Smith said. “I think that Michelle Obama would hands down be the next president of the United States if she were to run against Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.”
Would Michelle Obama beat Trump in 2024?
Obama has been a dream candidate for many Democrats for years, but she has publicly said she has no intention of running.
Smith acknowledged as much when he told Garnett, “Now, that, obviously, is not gonna happen. She doesn’t seem to have an interest.”
Amid a mountain of questions about whether she would challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party’s nomination this summer, her office clarified she had no ambitions for the White House in March, NBC News reported.
“As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” Crystal Carson, Michelle Obama’s director said in a statement.
“Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign,” Carson concluded.
