Stephen A. Smith: I'd Run for President If... (Part 2)

Would Stephen A. Smith actually give up his broadcasting empire to run for President? In Part 2, Stephen reveals why he seriously considered a run for the White House and why FCC equal-time rules ultimately forced him to abandon the campaign to protect his paycheck. He also takes Trevor and Eugene inside his origin story, unpacking how he used a passion for sports magazines to overcome childhood dyslexia and silence his own father's harshest criticisms. Plus, Stephen sounds off on why the new bipartisan college sports bill is fundamentally un-American for excluding Black athletes from the negotiating table, and he opens up about the immense pressure of utilizing his late mother's "tough love" tactics to financially support 19 immediate family members without crippling their independence.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Trevor Noah?

  Previously on What Now. One of the things I've always found interesting is how American sports is based on a socialist type principle. I've always been intrigued by this. In that, in that. When a team is performing at the worst level, generally what the system does is they then afford that team the opportunity to get some of the best players so that that team can rise up in the ranks. I've always been amazed by that.

• 0:30Trevor Noah?

  This is What Now with Trevor Noah.

• 0:36Trevor Noah?

  This segment is brought to you by Google Pixel. You know what's really frustrating? Knowing the exact information you need is somewhere on your phone, but still ending up wasting your time digging through five different apps just to actually find it. Thankfully, Google Pixel 11 is designed with Gemini intelligence so it can proactively find the information I need right when I need it. Like my flight info on travel days or my calendar when Eugene texts me to hang out. Oh, sorry Eugene, I'm booked. Learn more about what Google Pixel 11 can do at googlestore.com. These AI features are available in select countries and languages for users 18 and over, and make sure to check responses.

• 1:21Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, booked forever, forever. What Now with Trevor Noah is presented by Whole Foods Market. Thanksgiving is coming, and Whole Foods Market makes it easier to build a holiday table worth sharing. Start with turkey or a bone-in or boneless ham from the meat department, all with no antibiotics ever. Add seasonal pies, holiday cookie platters, or tea breads from the bakery made without high fructose corn syrup. Before or after Thanksgiving, build a family meal at the prepared foods counter that feeds four for $35. In-store only. Shop Thanksgiving favorites with higher standards at Whole Foods Market.

• 2:05Trevor Noah?

  So with American sports, I've always felt like in a great way they go, there's this like socialist attitude to sports. Worst team can become a great team because we'll give you a chance. Best team doesn't just say the best team forever because they got the most money or whatever it is. In soccer around the world, bad team can stay bad forever because they don't have enough money. The rich get richer, the poor at some point just disappear, and then they.

• 2:28Speaker 01

  So you're saying y'all are more capitalistic?

• 2:30Trevor Noah?

  In sports.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  All right.

• 2:31Trevor Noah?

  In sport.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 2:32Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, only in soccer, only in soccer.

• 2:34Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 2:34Trevor Noah?

  But I wonder for you, because I hear what you're saying about the system, but this is something I've never actually heard anyone ask you is, as Stephen A. Smith, if the system worked perfectly, and this is a crucial one.

• 2:46Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 2:46Trevor Noah?

  If it worked perfectly. Let's forget what people do or don't do. Now, the political system.

• 2:50Speaker 01

  Got it.

• 2:51Trevor Noah?

  Forget what worked or doesn't work, or forget what people did. You know, because sometimes we can blame a system for how people made it shitty essentially. What is a world you would want to see? Or how would you want to see America run? Not what America is, because I've heard you say, because you'll say like, this country wasn't built on socialism, or this country is about. No, I hear you, but I'm saying if you as Stephen A. Smith were going from scratch, you go like, okay, and it would work. What system would you want to see?

• 3:17Speaker 01

  This is very simplistic.

• 3:19Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 3:19Speaker 01

  And I get it. But me personally, when I say pro-business, here's what I mean.

• 3:26Speaker 01

  It would be a priority for me to make sure as many American citizens as possible

• 3:33Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 3:34Speaker 01

  is gainfully employed.

• 3:35Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 3:36Speaker 01

  You know, for one reason. Because you got something to lose. When you got something to lose, you know how to act. Because it's going to cost you if you mess it up. See, when you ignore the lesser amongst us, I'm talking about those who had the haves and have nots. When you ignore the have-nots amongst us, have no regard for them, you're inviting chaos. Because folks have nothing to lose. I can't tell you how many times growing up poor, there were times where I'm sitting there and I'm looking at the drug dealer down the block. You know, I could get about five Gs this week if I'm willing to stand on the corner, lie to my mom, go around the corner, deal some drugs. I can get about five Gs a week. I can do that. And it took everything in me not to do it.

• 4:20Speaker 01

  And through the grace of God, it's just that I had a wonderful mom. That's it. She saved me. It's just that I had a wonderful mom. And you know what? It was a bunch of Muslim brothers in the community as well, and I knew them, and they were real big on discipline, and they watched my back. And it was all about discipline, all about patience, all about understanding that your time would come. Don't, don't, don't get addicted to the microwave side. I gotta get it now, now, now. You know what? Some things are worth waiting for. You could do it, you could do it. You gotta have a mission in mind, you gotta have a vision. You gotta fall in love with the process. It can't just be about the end game. And I remember one Muslim brother told me this, and I'll never forget this as long as I live. He said, I want you to dream for a second. I want you to stand right in front of me. I want you to close your eyes. And I want you to imagine your dream. Think about the one dream

• 5:06Speaker 01

  that it is that you want more than anything coming true. And I said, yeah. He said, now, open your eyes. You achieved it. What you gonna do next? He said, the first thing that you're gonna think about is what's next? Because you did it. It don't stop because you did it. If you aim to get it, then you gonna aim to keep it.

• 5:30Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 5:30Speaker 01

  If you're aiming to keep it, you're gonna try to capitalize off of what you've gained. In the process of doing all of that, you're gonna think about new goals because you're gonna think, where do I go from here?

• 5:39Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 5:39Speaker 01

  That's the human engine. That's what it is. You understand? You had enough success. You had an incredible late night show with The Daily Show. You could have stopped. What you doing now? Lord knows what you doing because you don't stop. I got a lot of things going on. I don't stop because there's more to get. Now, you're not getting it because you're greedy. You're going after it because that's what living is.

• 6:04Trevor Noah?

  Well, there's doing.

• 6:05Speaker 01

  It's doing.

• 6:06Trevor Noah?

  Getting is generally a byproduct of doing.

• 6:07Speaker 01

  You're not standing still.

• 6:08Trevor Noah?

  If you're lucky enough, getting is a byproduct of doing. But if, if I'm hearing you correctly, it's interesting because I'm picking up these threads in your life. And you know, you've mentioned a few things in the conversation, and I know a few things about your life. And maybe, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm like, I'm picking up this Stephen A. Smith, like this little kid. And you've spoken about these things publicly, you know. You were dyslexic.

• 6:30Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 6:30Trevor Noah?

  You know, you struggled because of this dyslexia. People labeled you as stupid. People labeled you as not intelligent. People.

• 6:37Speaker 01

  My father.

• 6:37Trevor Noah?

  Right, your dad. Your mom, on the other hand, went, no.

• 6:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:42Trevor Noah?

  That is not what that is. And, and you had these two counterforces in your life. One telling you that you are not, one telling you that you are, or you can be. And I'm interested in how you got pulled in one direction versus the other. Like, was it, was it to prove yourself? Or was, was your mom's love greater than your father's doubt?

• 7:04Speaker 01

  It's a combination of it all.

• 7:05Trevor Noah?

  Yeah?

• 7:05Speaker 01

  Number one, let's keep it a buck. You love those who love you.

• 7:10Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 7:10Speaker 01

  Huh. If we're honest. Really, if you really, really think about it, you love those who love you.

• 7:14Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 7:15Speaker 01

  My mother loved me. Now, I was her baby. Youngest of six, brother died in a car accident in 1992.

• 7:21Trevor Noah?

  I'm sorry, man.

• 7:21Speaker 01

  My older appreciate that. He was my older brother, you know. And, and I had left with my four sisters. But my mama loved her baby boy. You know, and she was, you know, she. My mother passed away when I was 49. She was battling cancer for like 10, 11 years. She told me she loved me more in the last three years on this earth than she had ever told me in the first 46. I could count on one hand how many times I heard my mother loved me for the first 46 years of my life. But I knew it every day.

• 7:55Trevor Noah?

  You knew it, yeah.

• 7:56Speaker 01

  Everything she did showed me she loved me. Even when she disciplined me, she showed me she loved me. It was never a doubt. Not one day that I wasn't loved by my mama. You know? And so there were times that I questioned whether my father loved me at all.

• 8:14Speaker 01

  The hunger to prove a wrong.

• 8:15Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 8:16Speaker 01

  Certainly, that served as a motivation. The hunger to prove her right, that I was a worthy investment. Obviously, that played a role. All of those things, it, it, it's not one isolated thing. It's all of it. But I think that also, it's amazing how some of the things that serve to keep you down also can propel you the second you see a sliver of hope, a sliver of light.

• 8:44Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 8:44Speaker 01

  I remember my seventh grade teacher sent my book, Straight Shooter, Second Chance, you know. My, my, my book, Straight Shooter, Second Chances, First Takes, all of that. And

• 8:55Speaker 01

  the teacher's name was Mr. Caravan.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  And it was parent teacher night.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  And he looked at my mother and he said, your son thinks he's stupid. He said, he has never gotten over the fact that he's got left back. He said, but all of y'all are missing it. He said, your son is not stupid at all. He said, your son gets bored very, very easily. He gets distracted. He could be in a room full of noise and detach himself and hear nothing. He's like that. He said, but when he's excited, he's my best student.

• 9:43Speaker 01

  He said, find out what your son has a passion for and you will have a superstar in your hands. That's what he told my mother right in front of me. And that was the first time in my life outside of my mother that I heard anybody express any shred of confidence in me.

• 10:01Trevor Noah?

  Shout out Mr. Caravan.

• 10:02Speaker 01

  And so when he said that, I said, what am I passionate about? And it was two things. I had this fixation, this fascination, I still do to this very day, like I'm a Law and Order fanatic. Like Law and Order.

• 10:16Trevor Noah?

  A TV series?

• 10:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, Law and Order with Sam Waters.

• 10:18Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  Season like three or four, season, I think it's three, three, to like 21, I've never missed an episode, I've watched every episode. I love courtroom drama, it's on my bucket list. I actually played a scene for Law and Order when they killed me in Central Park. They killed me in Central Park. I just, I was playing an agent and, and I was, it was a good scene too. It was a good scene, I was so proud of myself, I had a blast, you know, and then they ended in a scene, I'm, I'm the one that gets killed and I'm the one that the case is based on. So they killed me. But it's on my bucket list.

• 10:47Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 10:48Speaker 01

  To be a lawyer in the courtroom. Because I've always said, if I wasn't doing what I was doing, I think I would be a criminal lawyer. If I was smart enough to pass the bar and all, I'd be a criminal lawyer. Cause I love courtroom drama. And that was one thing. The other thing was sports. And why did that matter? Because I had no confidence in my ability to read and comprehend.

• 11:12Trevor Noah?

  Okay.

• 11:13Speaker 01

  Zero.

• 11:13Trevor Noah?

  Okay.

• 11:14Speaker 01

  So what happened was that when he said what he said, I'm picking up sports magazines, newspapers. I have no problem understanding this.

• 11:26Trevor Noah?

  Cause I'm interested, yeah.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  You know, cause I was interested and passionate. Now the dyslexia, or, or my sister helped me overcome that at an earlier age. In terms of reading comprehension, not looking at words backwards and all of this other stuff. But the comprehension really elevated when it came to the sports. And why that mattered was because it changed my relationship with my father. I never forgot what he said about me, I never forgot how he felt about me and that always stuck with me.

• 11:52Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 11:52Speaker 01

  But what happened was is that it went from my father not having any confidence in me to me watching sports with him, to him literally giving me assignments to tell him what happened in the sport. Because he saw that I was a master at it.

• 12:14Trevor Noah?

  How did that make you feel?

• 12:15Speaker 01

  I felt vindicated. I felt like, yeah, I'm not what you thought I was. You understand? He's like, what happened? And, and why did they change? I said, well dad, they put this picture in, man, his arm was getting tired, the velocity was at about 93 miles an hour, but it was at 101, the ending earlier. So he's clearly wearing down. Plus last game, if you remember, he was a bit fatigued because he got hit in the arm, he didn't remember it, he went limpi, he went back to the dugout, he wasn't himself. Plus this guy, look at him dad, he's got a belly, he's not in shape. You know what? That kind of weight in your midsection, it would really compromise you, your, your lift and your legs, that's gonna affect your velocity.

• 12:52Trevor Noah?

  You're getting too personal, Steve.

• 12:53Speaker 01

  And I'm bringing.

• 12:54Trevor Noah?

  You're getting too, you can't talk about us like that, we're still here. We know, we know, we got like, and we know, we know.

• 13:00Speaker 01

  I got you, man, I got you. But I was, I was breaking all of this down.

• 13:03Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, that's amazing.

• 13:05Speaker 01

  And all of a sudden, he was like, shit, well, what happened tonight? And he started depending on me.

• 13:11Trevor Noah?

  Oh, wow.

• 13:11Speaker 01

  To elevate his boy, and he was a baseball encyclopedia, knew his stuff backwards and forwards. But he couldn't believe what I knew. And that's what propelled me in the world of sports. Because I had gained not only the acceptance, but the admiration of my number one nemesis.

• 13:29Trevor Noah?

  This is crazy.

• 13:29Speaker 01

  Which was my dad. And that insisted in my career.

• 13:33Trevor Noah?

  So you see, this is what I mean by the threads. I go, a love of litigation, a love of sports. That's what Stephen A. does, in my opinion. You're out there every single night arguing in the court of law, it's just a court of law that takes place on a court or on a field.

• 13:46Speaker 02

  It's a love for interpretation.

• 13:48Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, yeah, and then, and then on top of it, it's the, it's the passion to prove yourself to a naysayer, the passion to prove that you do know what you know. The passion to know that you do back it up with something, the passion. If, if I read correctly and, and if I remember this, and you talked a little bit about it now, but it's like, you know, it was a long journey with your dad. But he got to the point where he was like, no, he had to like, he gave you that, not even had to, he gave you the respect. He was like, man, you, you've done it, I'm proud of you, I see you, I acknowledge you.

• 14:15Speaker 01

  He never said he was proud of me.

• 14:16Trevor Noah?

  He never said he was proud of you?

• 14:17Speaker 01

  Never.

• 14:19Speaker 01

  Never. My mother did, but he never did.

• 14:23Trevor Noah?

  Did he come close to it or did he not?

• 14:25Speaker 01

  He just said, you're smart, you're smart, my son, Western Indian accent.

• 14:30Trevor Noah?

  Okay.

• 14:30Speaker 01

  You know, he said, you're smart, I didn't realize how smart you were gonna be, but you're smart. That's all he ever said.

• 14:36Trevor Noah?

  Did he have a bit of guilt in and around that?

• 14:38Speaker 01

  No, my father, I wouldn't associate the word guilt with my father. My father always found a way to justify the things that he said and did. Um, and he was not very, very, very big on accountability until he got older. When he got older and he started looking at his own mortality, couldn't move the same, um, wasn't as healthy. Had to be a bit more dependent on my mother and the family. Um, I think then is when it kicked in, but not before.

• 15:08Trevor Noah?

  And your mom on the other side left you with the love, the belief, the, the pride, the joy. She also left you, you know, when I read through your story, with a powerful message, which I, I genuinely could relate to, and I think many people can. And it is, the luxury that some people possess in their success is that it's theirs and theirs alone. And I know that, that can be a little lonely for some people. But there is like a, a relief in knowing that what you can achieve and what you can do in your life, whether it's a promotion at work or whatever it may be, is yours. And your failure is also yours. Your mom left you with something really beautiful and powerful, she said, hey, look after the family.

• 15:48Speaker 01

  Yeah. Well, that's not always the most beautiful thing.

• 15:51Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, but I'm, that's what I'm saying.

• 15:53Speaker 01

  It's powerful because, you know, it's like, I have, let me be very clear. I got four wonderful sisters. I mean, I love them, Linda, all in Abigail in common.

• 16:07Speaker 01

  I love them dearly. Sometimes it's a lot, because I've also got 15 nieces and nephews. And half of them, I'm daddy to. Um, and that was before my two daughters came along. So it is a challenge, particularly when you're the lone individual, successful compared. My sisters are, you know, one's a professor, one's a teacher, one's retired, there's a mediator for the American Arbitration Association. My sisters have done well, but obviously I've been blessed to have done significantly well for myself. And when they know me and they know what my mom said.

• 16:46Speaker 01

  So they will come to me in a heartbeat, looking for assistance, because they know I'm not gonna say no, because mom. Mom watching me, you know? And mom sees you, I can see my mother, Stephen, that, that you, you know, you need to be doing that, take care of your sister. You know, and I could hear her voice with me every day.

• 17:04Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 17:05Speaker 01

  And so because of that, I get real ticked off at them sometimes because they know.

• 17:09Trevor Noah?

  That they can use that.

• 17:10Speaker 01

  Say no.

• 17:11Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 17:11Speaker 01

  You know, and come on now, get it together, you know, that kind of thing. But that's all it is, man, it's just that, it's a lot of pressure because it puts the onus on you to live better, to take care of your health, to do what you can, to be the best that you can be. Because so many people are dependent on you. And it's, it's, you know, the black family is not the typical nuclear white family out there. You know what? You know, the median salary in America, for example, Asian American community, last time I looked, a few weeks ago, it was like about 126,000 a year. Uh, white, about 98, 99,000 a year. Hispanics in the seventies, black folks are 59,000. You know what? I've often said, when white folks catch a cold, black folks catch pneumonia, it's always rougher for us. I got that.

• 17:55Speaker 01

  And so because that's the reality, when you make it, everybody feels they made it.

• 17:59Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 18:00Speaker 01

  And you don't want them to feel otherwise, because you're not trying to abandon them.

• 18:04Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 18:05Speaker 01

  But you also know, they didn't put in the 70, 80 hour weeks. They didn't pound the pavement for as many years as you have. They didn't put in that work that you put in. And so the level of entitlement that people can come with sometimes can be challenging. My sisters are not like that. But what, what happens is, is that you get fearful, because a lot of times I had to remember when my family was in my pockets. I'm like, damn. And then I had to remember, no, it's not bad, it's just that it's so many of them.

• 18:33Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 18:33Speaker 01

  Like if, if, if, it's not one person coming to me all the time.

• 18:37Trevor Noah?

  Right, right, right.

• 18:37Speaker 01

  This one person came to me and then that one person.

• 18:39Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  I got 19 immediate relatives.

• 18:42Trevor Noah?

  Right, right.

• 18:43Speaker 01

  It's like, somebody's always coming. And it's not like, it's not like it's the same for anything like that.

• 18:48Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  And you feel compelled to take care of them. But the pressure is enormous, because if you go, and all of that goes. And you feel compelled, if you're wise enough, to take care of yourself, which is why I take care of myself, because I know so many people are dependent on me.

• 19:08Trevor Noah?

  So how do you balance that care with?

• 19:12Trevor Noah?

  Keeping people accountable and independent. And this is what I mean is like, I think a lot of people can relate to this idea of you grapple with one side of caring for others who need you.

• 19:22Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 19:22Trevor Noah?

  On the other hand, sometimes one of the worst things you can do is constantly help a person when they, you know, and you look at it on different levels.

• 19:30Speaker 01

  You're crippling them.

• 19:31Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, yeah. So I think of it like with babies, you know, child therapists will talk about this. Parents, some parents will solve everything for their child.

• 19:38Speaker 01

  Right.

• 19:38Trevor Noah?

  Child tries to unscrew something, they unscrew it. Child tries to climb on something, they lift them up, et cetera, et cetera.

• 19:43Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 19:43Trevor Noah?

  And then they go, your child doesn't learn that they can do things by themselves and for themselves, you know?

• 19:48Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 19:48Trevor Noah?

  You think of it in life as well. It's like my grandmother, in the last year-ish of her life, was really struggling to walk and move, et cetera. She was staying with extended family. When she came to live with my mom, my mom said, no, you gotta walk.

• 20:01Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 20:01Trevor Noah?

  And I remember the rest of us were like, mom, what are you doing? You know how my mom is. She's like, hey, she's like, she must walk. And we were like, she can't walk. She's like, no, no, she's just forgotten that she can walk. Because everyone treats her like she can't walk, but she can walk. And we were like, my mom's crazy. I promise you, no lie, a few months later, my grandmother was walking again.

• 20:16Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 20:17Trevor Noah?

  And she was, she would laugh about it and they would roast each other. But my grandmother said, she said, hi, she said, she frustrated me so much, I just had to walk.

• 20:23Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 20:24Trevor Noah?

  And we laughed about it. So I would love to know, as somebody who's now been on that journey, how do you find that balance between saying, hey, I'm looking after you, and actually, I'm holding you back by doing everything for you?

• 20:37Speaker 01

  Exactly what you just described about your grandma. I call it mama strategy. See, my mother always had our back.

• 20:45Speaker 01

  But she wasn't pleasant about it.

• 20:48Speaker 01

  She would harass the living hell out of you to do the things that you were supposed to do. And she would make sure that even though she would help you, she would do it begrudgingly. She would, you would hear her voices like nails on a chalkboard. And one and stop, because the whole point was, I'm not gonna allow you to sit here comfortably.

• 21:10Trevor Noah?

  Oh, okay.

• 21:12Speaker 01

  While you're getting.

• 21:13Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 21:13Speaker 01

  I'm gonna make it very uncomfortable for you to ask. You're gonna wanna run out and get it yourself, rather than deal with my voice.

• 21:21Trevor Noah?

  Hmm.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  Rather than deal with me grating your last nerve, because I'm just bothering you, because I won't just give it to you and let it slide. That's me.

• 21:32Trevor Noah?

  Hmm.

• 21:33Speaker 01

  I would sit there, I won't do it the first time. Did you come to me a little bit too much? Oh, no, you gonna hear my mouth. Why, what you doing? Where the hell was the last thing I did for you? What did, what'd you make into that? Why you back now? What, what, what, you think you gonna just keep coming to me, coming to me, ask, ask, ask? Better get your act together, what's up? Nieces, nephews, more so, again, more so than my sisters, you know? Because my sisters, I mean, listen, they raised me, and they don't need much, and when they need, I got them.

• 21:59Trevor Noah?

  Right.

• 22:00Speaker 01

  And those are my sisters. You're the child. You had plenty of opportunities to lift yourself up and handle your business. Don't play with me. Handle your business, you know? So that's how I treat them.

• 22:12Trevor Noah?

  We're gonna continue this conversation right after this short break.

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• 24:18Trevor Noah?

  Do you actually plan to run for president?

• 24:23Speaker 01

  Honestly, honestly speaking, honestly speaking.

• 24:26Trevor Noah?

  I like that.

• 24:27Speaker 01

  Trevor, I, I, I will be openly, I will be very open about this. I wasn't messing around.

• 24:33Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 24:33Speaker 01

  I mean, it was like, under no circumstances, and I'm telling you, I'm qualified. What I'm saying to you is, we got a bunch of unqualified ass people trying to run. And I'm like, this is bad. I'm like, listen, you can't, you can't tell me, listen, I had, I had a governor, I can't give his name, because I don't know if he would want me to. And he looked at me and he said to me, look, the real work is done in the States.

• 24:59Speaker 01

  He said, the presidency is essentially a bullhorn

• 25:05Speaker 01

  that forces you to pay attention to the things that need to be paid attention to. If there's anybody that could do that, it is you. And I was like, so explain what that means. He said, federal government, you've got your people in place, every single department knows what to do, et cetera. You got a budget, you gotta look at that fine. You got the states, governors running every state, mayors running the cities, they're handling their business individually. You got money that you can allocate. You also got the ability to print money when necessary, as we can see. You got all of this stuff going on, right? But what the presidency does is force you to pay attention to things that matter to the country.

• 25:50Speaker 01

  It could be the economy, it could be safety, it could be the borders, it could be a lot of things. This is what it is. And you need somebody that has this magnetic relationship with the microphone and the camera to speak to millions upon millions of American citizens, letting them know what the hell is going on and what should matter to them. He said, you can do that.

• 26:15Trevor Noah?

  But do you think the solution to the problem is, and I'm not saying it'd be an extension to the problem, but listen to what you said. You said, we have a whole bunch of, you said, I'm not qualified.

• 26:25Speaker 01

  Right.

• 26:26Trevor Noah?

  But we have a whole bunch of unqualified people doing this. And then I go, but then, is that the way we solve the problem? By adding another unqualified person?

• 26:33Speaker 01

  And that's a fair question. My response to that is that I would never surround myself with unqualified people.

• 26:39Trevor Noah?

  Okay, okay, I hear what you're saying.

• 26:40Speaker 01

  My point is, is that.

• 26:41Trevor Noah?

  So you're thinking of it as a managerial role?

• 26:43Speaker 01

  Exactly, because my whole, because my whole point is this. In the end, if you think about what we're really, really talking about with this president, of all the complaints people may have.

• 26:53Trevor Noah?

  Yeah.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  What you're really, really upset about is that you don't trust his soul.

• 26:57Trevor Noah?

  Yes.

• 26:58Speaker 01

  You don't trust that his soul is in the right place for the common man and woman throughout this country. Ain't nobody gonna look at me and say, I ain't concerned about that. Oh, hell no. I'm definitely going to be concerned about that. I don't need to make billions. I don't need to engage in cryptocurrency and pad my wallet by about $5 billion. I don't need to sit up there and have a bunch of AI executives in front of my face and then, you know what? It's a moral, it's a moral commitment. Moral, really? That's what we supposed to, hell no. You know what? There's a safety net to any, everything that really, really matters, and you have to do what's in the best interest of the people, not yourself. Damn, I got mine. I grew up in Hollins, Queens. I was on welfare.

• 27:41Speaker 01

  I know what government cheese tastes like. I know what government bread is like. I ate sugar sandwiches when I was younger. Literally, government bread, sugar poured on it and ate it. This is what I grew up struggling with. It was, I had to eat, you know, my mother used to cook this nasty liver and make you drink ca, drink a little castor oil and all this.

• 28:02Trevor Noah?

  Oh, you guys also had the castor oil in the liver?

• 28:04Speaker 01

  My mother did all of that, and I'm going like this. I know what it's like to be hungry. I know what it's like not to have anything in the refrigerator. So my point to you is that, damn, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to sit up there and be somebody that's wanting to cap what you're earning or anything like that. But in the same breath, I'm saying, I wouldn't need to be in office and I'm pursuing money for myself. What are we doing for the American people? I remember, I'll never forget, I was so pissed with Trump, um, uh, this is like a year ago or so, when he came and he was talking about paying the insurrectionists from January 6.

• 28:39Trevor Noah?

  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 28:39Speaker 01

  Some money, and I went like this. Everybody was upset with him. Oh, they're criminals, oh, they, they stormed the United States Capitol. I'm like, hold up, hold up. Bump all of that, okay? Because depending on which political side of the aisle you're on, you don't care. You care if you're on the left, because you think they're criminals. You don't care if you're on the right, because all you care is about him being in office and a Democrat not be in office. That's not the real issue. Yo, you wanted 1.5 billion, a billion dollars? Didn't you get 5 billion from crypto? Why aren't you paying? That was my response. It's like, you got 5 billion?

• 29:14Trevor Noah?

  You got it.

• 29:15Speaker 01

  Damn, you got it. You know, if you care so much, give it your damn self. What you coming to taxpayers to do it for? It's ridiculous. See, those kind of things, to me, I would never be that guy. I'm not trying to sit up there and tell you that I would do things perfectly, or I would know everything. I would surround myself with people who do, and guess what? Those people who do know what to do, I know that I would have the conscience to look out for the best interest of the country and not myself, which to me is what you ask from your leaders. You ask for the competency, but you gotta have a soul and care about something other than your damn self. That was why I was saying it. I was looking, I'm like, listen, I would run as a Democrat.

• 30:01Speaker 01

  Let me tell you what ain't gonna happen. We ain't gonna have men transitioning to women and competing against girls in women's sports. I got two daughters, ain't no dude, you know, with his parts sharing the bathroom with my daughter.

• 30:14Trevor Noah?

  Or getting in a boxing ring with them at the ladies.

• 30:16Speaker 01

  It's not happening. Now, I'm a supporter of the LGBTQ plus community, live and let live. But not at the expense of young ladies, can't do that. That's me, that's my only cardinal rule about that. Outside of that, live and let live. You understand? You want to come to me socialism? I'm telling you, this is where, getting back to Mumdani. My daughter loves Mumdani. And I know exactly why. Cause she ain't pay a damn bill yet, that's why. She ain't pay a damn bill.

• 30:44Trevor Noah?

  I knew you were gonna say that.

• 30:46Speaker 01

  She ain't pay a damn bill.

• 30:46Trevor Noah?

  I knew you were gonna say that.

• 30:48Speaker 01

  Let me tell you something, she about to turn eighteen. And when that happens, fellas, she's gonna have a job. I don't give a damn if it's for a month. Cause I wanna see her face when she sees that check. And I'm gonna make sure she's working in New York. I wanna see the check. You see, when you, when you went to work thinking that this is the money that you were earning? And then the check comes home and more than half your shit is missing? I wanna see what you say that, yeah, Nyla, I'm talking about you. I can't wait because I ain't having it. Those are the kind, that's what I'm talking about. But outside of that, no, I don't, I, listen. I was serious about it because I really genuinely believe I could win.

• 31:34Speaker 01

  But the flip side to it is that I would have to give up my money. Because equal time rules, according to the FCC, states by virtue of what I do for a living, I would have to give up my job immediately. I don't know if you've seen the news about my contract? And I'm not confirming or denying that contract. But I will confirm, I ain't giving it up. I ain't giving it up. Hell no, I'm not giving that up. So it was an easy decision. Oh, I gotta get, and I was informed, seriously, I was informed, I was told. If you decide to run, the second you announce, you will be taken off the air immediately, cause of equal time.

• 32:17Trevor Noah?

  Yeah, that makes sense.

• 32:19Speaker 01

  Immediately. Is that because you gotta have, because the other candidate? If I was a lawyer or counsel, that would be different. No, by virtue of what I do for a living, I have to come off the air. Which means I gotta give my money. There ain't no option. You ain't gotta worry about me running. I tell you that right now, cause I ain't giving up my money. Not my money. All these politicians trying to get what I got. What the hell I'm doing that for? Trevor, that ain't happening. You go, you say whatever you want, it ain't happening.

• 32:40Trevor Noah?

  I love how, I love how Stephen A. is so committed to this. Even if he is the politician that'll make, that he earns less, he's like, no, I won't. I won't let, let my money go down from me being a politician.

• 32:51Speaker 01

  Not my money, not my money that I earned. Now, I'm not gonna go to the White House supposedly representing the American people and try to rob the American people of its money. But I'm not do, I earned this. This, this, I've earned this career. I've worked in this career for thirty years. That's why I'm getting paid. They get paid that I am. I'm not giving it up. Now, if I didn't have it, you'd have a different argument. If you told me I had to give it up once I won, once I won the presidency, that would be different.

• 33:18Trevor Noah?

  But no, because of this.

• 33:19Speaker 01

  But I got a campaign on a maybe and give up my money? Oh, hell no. That ain't no thought. That's done. I'm not pleased. You ain't gotta worry about me. I'm perfectly fine hosting my shows, living my life, doing what I'm doing. I ain't giving up that money.

• 33:34Trevor Noah?

  You have to be unemployed in hopes of being employed. Can I say, this, you know what? Thank you for the time. Thank you for being you. And, and I will say this, and, and you, you sort of alluded to it earlier. In a world where so many people say what they want people to hear them say, in a world where so many people aim to be agreed with it, it is refreshing to have a conversation with somebody who stands on what they stand on, apologizes when they, when they find out that they're wrong or they believe that they're wrong. But also is just as forthcoming as you are. Genuinely, as a person, this has been a great time, man.

• 34:07Speaker 01

  Man, I've had a blast. I've been a fan of yours for years. I never, ever, ever thought, cause I, I, I think that Jon Stewart is great. And what he did with The Daily Show, it was phenomenal. I never in my wildest dreams thought anybody, especially a black man, can come on the airwaves and do what you've done. You're phenomenal. I've been a fan for many, many years. Your sensational, sensational talent. And it is a true honor to finally meet you, my brother.

• 34:34Trevor Noah?

  Come on, thank you, man.

• 34:35Speaker 01

  I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. You too, my brother, it's good to see you.

• 34:38Trevor Noah?

  This is great, man. This is amazing. Thank you, Stephen A. Smith. Oh, man. What a joy.

• 34:47Trevor Noah?

  This segment is brought to you by Whole Foods Markets. I've noticed that Friendsgiving has become one of those events where everybody wants to appear effortlessly impressive. It starts innocently enough. Somebody creates a group chat, says, hey, let's all get together. Everybody brings something and suddenly you're watching people negotiate their responsibilities like they're forming a government. There's always somebody who immediately volunteers to bring drinks. Of course you will. You've chosen the one contribution that doesn't require knowing how to cook. Then somebody offers to bring napkins. Oh, napkins. We're preparing an entire feast and your contribution is helping us wipe our mouths?

• 35:27Trevor Noah?

  Meanwhile, the ambitious people start making promises they have absolutely no business making. I'll make a homemade pie. Really? Because I've known you for seven years and I've never seen you operate an oven. But now, you've watched two cooking videos and apparently you're opening a bakery. And the problem is, once you've announced your dish in the group chat, you can't back out. You've made a public commitment. So now, you're standing in your kitchen at midnight, staring at a recipe that says, prep time, twenty minutes, wondering why you've been preparing for four hours. I think that's where we get Thanksgiving a little wrong. We start confusing caring about people with proving how much work we've done. As though the more difficult something was to make, the more love it contains.

• 36:12Trevor Noah?

  I was up until three in the morning making this. Why? Yeah, we love you. We would also love you if you had gone to bed. But I understand the instinct, you know, when you're feeding people you care about? You wanna bring something good. You want somebody to take a bite and say, mm, wait, who made this? Although that's dangerous too, because once you make something delicious, now you're responsible for it forever. You make one good mac and cheese and suddenly you're the mac and cheese person. Every year, Trevor, you bringing a mac and cheese, right? What if I've changed? What if I wanna explore other aspects of my culinary identity? No, the group has decided, you're the mac and cheese guy now.

• 36:53Trevor Noah?

  And that's why I think there's a difference between having high standards and making everything difficult. That's something I appreciate about Whole Foods Markets. You see, they ban more than five hundred ingredients storewide, including high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors like red forty. So when you're shopping for people you care about, some of that ingredient checking has already been done for you. You can focus on finding something delicious. Whether you're getting ingredients to cook your favorite dish or picking up a seasonal pie or a holiday cookie platter to bring along. Because the whole point of Friendsgiving is being together. It's catching up with people, laughing about the year you've had and finding out that somebody's been dating somebody for six months and somehow forgot to mention it.

• 37:38Trevor Noah?

  Six months? Yeah, we talk every day. Well, you never asked. Those are the moments you remember, not whether somebody made their pastry from scratch. So, whether you're bouncing from Friendsgiving to Friendsgiving, going home for an old fashioned Thanksgiving, or just looking to eat good in November, be sure to keep your standards up by shopping for every feast at Whole Foods Markets. Whole Foods Markets, shop in store or online.

• 38:13Trevor Noah?

  What Now with Trevor Noah is produced by Day Zero Productions in partnership with Sirius XM. The show is executive produced by Trevor Noah, Sanaz Yamin, and Jess Hackel. Rebecca Chain is our producer. Our development researcher is Marcia Robiu. Music, mixing, and mastering by Hannes Brown. Random other stuff by Ryan Harduth.

• 38:34Speaker 07

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