Stephen A. Smith issues a warning to Democrats on midterm wins

Democrats now have control of both chambers of Congress. And that means the question of whether they'll try to impeach President Donald Trump for a third time is no longer hypothetical. But ESPN star Stephen A. Smith does not think that would be wise.

Over the past several months, Smith has become more outspoken about his political views and even teased the possibility of running for office himself in 2028. But before a single vote was cast, he had a warning for the party as he made it clear that he thinks impeaching Trump would be a massive mistake.

On an episode of his Straight Shooter podcast released ahead of the midterms , Smith said that he's all for checks and balances. But he didn't think impeachment was the answer.

"But when people want the Democrats to regain the House so they can impeach the president, we really going to go through that again? The man was convicted of 34 felony counts. He was impeached not once but twice. He's still a president," Smith said.

Smith argued that impeachment isn't what voters want to see.

"You really think that it's good for this country if the Democrats regain office before the 2028 election to pursue this man and to try to impeach him? You really, really think that America wants that nonsense again? This is the kind of stuff that makes you look at the Democratic Party and say, 'Yo, see, that's why y'all turn people off.' No one is sitting here absolving Trump from a damn thing," Smith said.

He argued that Americans care far more about the cost of living.

"They want the gas prices to come down. They want the price of groceries to come down. They want interest rates to be reasonable. They want to be able to afford their groceries. They want to be able to afford gas. They want to be able to afford to pay their rent and their mortgages. That's what they want to do," Smith said.

In fact, Smith went as far as to warn Democrats that impeaching Trump would guarantee that a Republican would win the presidency in 2028.

"I'm going to make a prediction right here and now for everybody to see and everybody to hear after the Democrats reclaim the House this Tuesday, assuming they hold on to the Senate," Smith said. "If the Democrats pursue impeachment against Trump, I'm guaranteeing that a Republican will win the presidency in 2028. You can book it."

Smith made it clear that his warning wasn't a defense of Trump. He called Trump's comments about Venezuela and Iran "awful" and said he never approved of how ICE has operated.

"My point is I don't give a damn what he just said. Don't waste your time impeaching him. Govern the country. Show that you want to govern. Show that you're thinking about the American people instead of yourself, your vitriol, and your own commitment to vengeance," Smith said.

"Otherwise, you can win back the House this Tuesday all you want, Democratic Party. You ain't going to win the presidency in 2028," he added.

Smith got the House right, but he missed on the Senate. He predicted that "Republicans are going to hold on to the Senate." Instead, Democrats won the chamber decisively, winning nearly every battleground state to give them full control of Congress.

That takes away one of the biggest obstacles to impeachment. Removing a president still requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, however, so a conviction would remain a long shot.

Trump himself has been bracing for this. In January, he told House Republicans at a retreat that if they lost the midterms, " I'll be impeached ."

Whether Democrats take Smith's advice remains to be seen.