Ex-NJ governor Chris Christie thinks ESPN loudmouth will run for president

A former presidential candidate believes ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith will make a political push in the future.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran for president during the 2016 and 2024 election cycles, said in a recent Washington Post story profiling Smith that Smith’s affinity for politics will one day lead to him running for office.

Want to bet on sports?

See the best NYC Sports Betting sites

“Either party would be foolish not to be willing to talk to him,” Christie, the governor from 2010-18, told the Washington Post. “I don’t think it’s imminent, but will he run someday? I think it’s more likely than not that he would.”

The “First Take” host has become more involved in political media in recent years. Smith, 56, previously interviewed Christie last year as he ran for president as a Republican, and he’s appeared on different networks and his own show discussing politics. Smith is interested in interviewing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump during the upcoming election cycle, according to the Washington Post’s story.

Smith told The Washington Post that members of both parties have discussed him running for office — and that included for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania. But Smith said he was only interested in one position, and he doesn’t believe he would ever get it.

“The only office that would do it for me is the presidency of the United States,” Smith told The Washington Post. “And I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell the American people would ever vote for me.”