ESPN host Stephen A. Smith said on Sunday that he has “no choice” but to consider a run for president.

Smith, who recently declared the Democrats to be “lost,” refused to rule out a future campaign for the White House during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” with anchor Jonathan Karl.

“I have no choice because I’ve had elected officials, and I’m not going to give their names, elected officials coming up to me. I’ve had folks who are pundits come up to me. I’ve had folks that got a lot of money, billionaires and others, have talked to me about exploratory committees and things of that nature,” Smith said. “I’m not a politician. I’ve never had a desire to be a politician. I just signed a contract extension with ESPN. I am very, very happy with my day job.”

He added later, “But here’s the reality, people — literally, people have walked up to me, including my own pastor for crying out loud, who has said to me, you don’t know what God has planned for you. At least show the respect to the people who believe in you, who respect you, who believe that you can make a difference in this country to leave the door open for any possibilities — two to three years down the line. And that’s what I’ve decided to do.”

Smith acknowledged that he sees Democrats who “clearly are more qualified than me.” Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned from office in 2021 amid controversy but is now running to become New York City mayor, all got name-dropped.

“I would hope somebody else would step up that’s more qualified than me, but if it has to come down to me, it is something I would consider. Yes, I would, because I don’t mind the thought of tussling with these folks at all on the left or the right. All of them disgust me to be quite honest with you,” Smith said.

The ESPN host also responded to Steve Bannon saying on Bill Maher’s HBO show, “Real Time,” that only Smith or another celebrity would be a cause for concern for him in a prospective 2028 election match-up against Trump, assuming that a way around the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment forbidding a third term can be found.

Bannon is “trying to be slick because he’s looking at a non-political individual like myself, looking at me as a populist, but you better be careful what you ask for because some of the stuff that Trump and the Right has been trying to get away with, like circumventing the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, talking about how there could be a third term,” Smith said.

He continued, “Excuse me, be careful what you wish for because if any GOP member, if any Republican supports that, I don’t want to hear a word out of their mouth ever again about following the Constitution, the Constitution, the Constitution. That’s what they’ve been living off for years, and then you’re talking about circumventing the 22nd Amendment, and you think that’s cool? No way. That’s not something that we should stand for.”