ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says he would support a 2024 White House bid from Gavin Newsom

ESPN host Stephen A. Smith suggested he would support a 2024 bid for the White House from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), praising him for being “forceful” against the right.

Smith called the Democrat Party “stupid” for relying on President Biden to lead the party in next year’s presidential election, suggesting that his age could put Democrats at a disadvantage. Instead, he floated the idea that Newsom could be the best candidate to run against Republicans in 2024.

“You got to get them. First of all, you look stupid enough because you call yourself progressives, and you’re riding the coattails of a guy that’s going to be 82 years old during an election year, begging him to run for reelection,” Smith said on the latest episode of his podcast. “You call yourself progressives and the best you can do is an 82-year-old that’s already in office, an 82-year-old incumbent.”

He referred to Newsom’s interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity in June as a reason why he would back him.

“I personally believe if it wasn’t for these damn high taxes out here in California, I would be a Gavin Newsom supporter,” he said. “When he got interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox News I’ve never seen, since Biden has been present, anyone on the liberal side that has been more forceful, more convincing, and more defying against the right then Gavin Newsom. And more effective. He was brilliant.”

Newsom is widely believed to have presidential ambitions, but has repeatedly stated he won’t mount a White House bid in 2024 and voiced support for Biden seeking reelection.

Smith said even though California has had high taxes under Newsom’s leadership, he would still support him over Biden. But he said he would vote for Biden over former President Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, saying that if the former president returns to office, “we’d have an anarchy being run and an anarchist running it.”

Smith has previously called for a new president in 2024, again citing Biden’s age.

“Somebody’s gotta say it, so I’m gonna say it: We need a new president in 2024. We need a new president,” he said in June.

He also said in his latest podcast episode that his concerns about age do not just apply to Biden, referring to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) freezing up at a podium for a second time Wednesday.

“These are not young, spry individuals,” he said. “Father Time creeps up on everybody. And if we’re going to point out how it’s creeped up on Joe Biden, we most certainly can point on how it’s picked up on Mitch McConnell. Period.”