Will Smith Says He’d Be Down to Run For Political Office In the Future, ‘I’ll Consider That at Some Point’

Will Smith has been a lot of things during his illustrious career. He recently came on Crooked Media’s Pod Save America podcast and floated around the idea of one day running for a political office.

“I think for now I’ll let that office get cleaned up a little bit and then I’ll consider that at some point down the line,” Smith said. “I absolutely have an opinion, I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful, I believe in understanding between people and I believe in the possibility of harmony. I will certainly do my part, whether it remains artistic or, at some point, ventures into the political arena.” 

However, this is not Smith’s first time throwing the idea around of running for political office. He said in 2015 that he felt compelled to run for president because of the racist rhetoric Donald Trump spewed during his campaign. “If people keep saying all the crazy kinds of stuff they’ve been saying on the news lately about walls and Muslims, they’re going to force me into the political arena,” he said. 

Even before that, Smith had thrown around the idea on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast.  “And, you know, as I look at the political landscape, I think that there might be a future out there for me,” he said. “They might need me out there. This is the first year that I’ve been incensed to a level that I can’t sleep, you know? So I’m feeling that at some point, in the near future, I will have to lend my voice to the conversation in a somewhat different way.” 

On the Pod Save America podcast, co-host Jon Faverau asked Smith about his how his personal experiences with racism and how they have shaped his outlook on things.

“I’ve been called [n-word] to my face probably five or six times. And fortunately for my psyche, I’ve never been called [n-word] by a smart person,” he said. “I grew up with the impression that racists and racism were stupid, and they were easy to get around. I just had to be smarter now while they were very dangerous. I had never looked into the eyes of a racist and saw anything that I perceived as intellect.”