Stephen A. Smith criticizes open borders, tells CBS he's still open to presidential run: 'I'm not ruling it out'

Sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith says he is a fiscal conservative but a social liberal.

For those reasons, the ESPN personality says he is not completely opposed to running for office, but it would be as a Democrat.

'I couldn't see myself running as a member of the GOP.'

The 58-year-old critiqued policy from both of the last two administrations during an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning" and host Robert Costa, remarking that he has "no desire to be a politician."

"Zero. I have no desire to run for office," he told Costa. But when asked if he would "run for president," Smith revealed that the door is still open.

"I'm not ruling it out because I'd love to be on the debate stages against some of these individuals that think they're better suited to run the country, because I think that the American people deserve to listen to and hear from somebody who genuinely cares about making life better for them instead of yourself."

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When asked which party's banner he would fly, Smith said he would run as a Democrat chiefly because of the fact that he is more left on social issues.

"I couldn't see myself running as a member of the GOP. I'm a fiscal conservative. I can't stand high taxes, but I'm a social liberal in the same breath because I believe in living and let live. I pay attention to the desolate and the disenfranchised. Yes, I like strong borders. That's absolutely true. We never needed open borders, but we don't need it to be completely closed either. We're a gorgeous mosaic."

The sports analyst criticized both President Biden's and President Trump's policies during an extended version of the interview, calling out Biden's open-border policies.

"The borders needed to be closed. [Trump] was right to do that, but only because Biden opened them," he explained.

Smith's criticisms of Trump mainly focused on deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which he described as "grabbing people up [and] snatching people off the streets."

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Smith took issue with the targets of the agency and claimed the Trump administration had previously characterized enforcement as "going after the criminals," only to then enforce immigration laws against "anybody who crossed the border illegally."

The interview touched on a lot of different topics, including racism. At one point during the interview, Costa noted that Smith's broadcasting style had garnered him the nickname "Screaming A. Smith." The analyst quickly retorted.

"White men are all over the place screaming all the time. They don't call them screaming whatever," Smith declared. "Matter of fact, they call them passionate, and they never associate the word 'anger.' But somehow they do that with me despite this fact that I smile a lot. A lot of reasons to be happy."

On the subject of race, Smith later noted that he does not believe racism is "as prevalent as some on the left would like us to believe."

Smith said he does believe that the vast majority of Americans judge each other on the content of their individual character rather than skin color.

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