ESPN sports personality Stephen A. Smith visited the White House to interview President Donald Trump on Thursday — making clear he is not taking on the vacant White House press secretary position.
When a reporter asked if he had been offered the press secretary job, last held by Katie Zacharia in October, Smith said, “No way in hell.”
The two spoke for around 40 minutes for an episode of Smith’s YouTube show, “Straight Shooter With Stephen A.,” set to air Thursday evening. They discussed the midterms, the Iran war, former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and other topics, Smith said.
Smith’s visit comes days after Trump jokingly announced that UFC CEO Dana White had been offered the press secretary position. The president later said he was “having fun,” though White joined him in the press briefing room on Monday for Trump’s first event there in months.
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“That was an example of something where I was kidding, and then people said, ‘You know, that’s actually a pretty good idea,’” Trump said on Sunday.
Smith has been a staunch critic of Trump — though the pair have known each other for decades — but Thursday’s visit marks the second time in as many months that the two have met: In October, they dined together at the White House with singer Kid Rock and comedian Bill Maher, a meeting the president called “great.”
Smith had been publicly weighing a 2028 presidential bid earlier this year but announced in September that he would not run for office.
“The minute I announce that I’m running, I would be taken off the air,” Smith told Politico in September. “I wouldn’t be able to work, and I would lose a contract that I worked my entire career for, you know, and I’m not giving that up.”
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