'What Were We Smoking?': ESPN Legend Bob Ley Has His Doubts About Stephen A. Smith Presidential Run
Bob Ley isn't buying the idea that Stephen A. Smith may actually get into politics.
You can add former ESPN anchor and reporter Bob Ley to the long, long list of folks who aren't buying the rumors and innuendos involving Stephen A. Smith and a potential run at the White House.
Ley recently joined OutKick's Ricky Cobb on ‘The Ricky Cobb Show’ to reflect on his 40-year career at ESPN, the current climate at the four-letter network, and Smith's flirtations with the White House.
"I consider Stephen a very good friend, he's done some huge solids for me over the years," Ley began before referencing the first time he interviewed Smith back in 2003.
"I've got to believe that when Stephen puts his head on his pillow at night and pulls the cover up, that he's kind of chuckling to himself as he goes off to dreamland," Ley continued. "God bless him, he's earned every single penny of that new contract and he's the hardest working person I know, but he's got to think to himself, ‘My God, what are they doing thinking I could be President?’
"I mean there's this long piece in the New York Times within the last two weeks, and we're going to look back in two or three years at this period for Stephen A. Smith and say, 'What were we smoking?'"
Bob Ley Stephen A Smith
Smith has danced around the idea of throwing his hat in the political ring for quite some time now, although he did state earlier this month that he had never been interested in politics a day in his life.
"I'm not prepared, I'm not qualified, and I have no political history whatsoever," Smith told CNN in early May. "I've never been interested in politics a day in my life, so how did I come to this conclusion where I've left the door open? I'll tell you how, elected officials have come up to me, folks in the street every single day, and not only that, but my own pastor in Brooklyn, New York, told me to ‘show respect to people who love and support you to leaving the door open because you never know what God has planned for you or us as a nation in the years to come.’"
Smith has said that if he "had" to run for President - which is a strategic choice of word - he'd run as a Democrat, but the party would "pretty much need to be purged."