
Stephen A. Smith is an authority in the sports world, but he has a lot to say about the political climate in the U.S. too. The ESPN pundit was the latest guest of “The Rubin Report,” where he got real about how policies inspired his move from New York to Florida and some of his hot takes on the consequential presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The Democratic politician lost on Nov. 5 after securing 226 electoral votes compared to her opponent’s 312. Smith was among those who supported President Joe Biden’s second-in-command. While speaking with Dave Rubin on the Jan. 11 episode, the “Straight Shooter” author was earnest about his disappointments with each of the party’s approaches to lobbying votes.
“When you hear people talking about practical, practical things, and then I saw folks on the left basically trying to guilt me into voting for you, you know, it bothered me,” he admitted. “I might have ended up voting for Kamala Harris because I didn’t like how Trump acts, but what I didn’t do was call him a racist. I didn’t call him a Nazi,” said the “First Take” personality.
He explained, “I knew Trump before he ran for president. We talked on the phone. We talk at basketball games or boxing events. I knew this man, and so some of the things that were being said about him I knew were not true, and I was saying, ‘Come on y’all, you got to do better than that.’” During the November election, Republicans secured a trifecta by winning the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Trump will assume office following his second inauguration on Jan. 20.
The self-proclaimed independent who likes the checks and balances of a government not unilaterally run by a single party, has previously been vocal about regretting his support of Harris. In December, during a guest appearance on Fox News’ “Life, Liberty & Levin,” the HBCU alum expressed, “I don’t think anybody could dismiss Donald Trump at this particular moment in time and not just because of him but because of what we’ve seen the Democrats do.”
Adding that, “I voted Democrat. And I gotta tell you something right now — I don’t like the fact that I did. I don’t like what I’m seeing,” as he spoke about Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, in a federal gun charge case. Further into the discussion with Rubin, the “NBA Countdown” host clarified that he “was against Trump because of his behavior” — a major reason he was unable to cast a ballot in favor of the GOP nominee.
“We don’t need a commander-in-tweets. We don’t need somebody that’s pettily going after folks for no reason. We don’t need the chaos that existed in the country, in the latter part of his presidency,” he continued. “So, I was the kind of person where I didn’t vote for him, but I didn’t mind voting for other Republicans in the House or the Senate …”
Hear more of what Smith had to say as he and Rubin delved deeper into the political discourse in the full video below.