ESPN hot-take artist Stephen A. Smith seems to have renewed his interest in running for the Democratic nomination in 2028, and he has begun speaking openly about that campaign in a very odd way: by praising President Trump.

During an interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning, Smith said his decision to run was coming soon and praised President Trump’s efforts to secure the border after four years of Biden’s open-door policy.

“I will make a decision in early 2027, but I am not ruling it out because I expect a lot of success to come my way. And Lord help everybody if the amount of success comes my way ensures that I never have to worry about my quality of life ever again,” he said.

As for his thoughts on Trump, “I don’t like what I’m seeing, but everything he does is not wrong.

“The borders needed to be closed. [Trump] was right to do that, but only because Biden opened them. Had Biden followed Barack Obama’s method and his plan, and what he did in deporting even more people than Trump did in his first term, you wouldn’t hear me saying that.

“But when you let anywhere from 12 to 15 million people cross the border illegally, swearing in our face, spitting in our face, while telling us it’s raining, figuratively speaking, by telling us there was no border crisis when clearly there was, emergency efforts were necessary.”

The House Committee on Homeland Security reports that the “CBP has recorded more than 10.8 million encounters nationwide, including more than 8.72 million at the Southwest border,” since the start of fiscal year 2021.

Despite agreeing with the need for border security, the ESPN clickbait driver drew the line at endorsing Trump’s tactics.

“Now, do I like what I’m seeing in the streets of America in terms of ICE grabbing people up, snatching people off the streets, detaining folks? No, I do not,” Smith said. “Do I like them saying, ‘Hey, we’re going after the criminals,’ and come to find out, your definition of criminals is anybody who crossed the border illegally as opposed to the impression you gave us that there were real bona fide criminals that was doing harm to American citizens. No, I don’t like that either.”

Smith continued, “Make no mistake about it, we wouldn’t have a border crisis under my watch,” Smith added. “Hell no. We wouldn’t have this crime that exists in the streets of New York. You wouldn’t hear about me saying defund the police. We ain’t defunding any police.”