Stephen A. Smith nearly sent Sean Hannity into a meltdown on Thursday as the Fox host desperately tried to defend Donald Trump’s mental state.
The 57-year-old sports pundit was invited to speak about Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for the Oval Office, but found himself attacking Trump after Hannity suggested the Democratic candidate has difficulty speaking in public.
‘He has to give us word salads because he doesn’t tell us how he really feels. He’s hiding his true beliefs,” Hannity said. “Donald Trump doesn’t do that.”
Trump has made a number of recent gaffes on stage during events, including an event with Smith’s former ESPN colleague Sage Steele, whom the former president referred to as ‘Paige.’ It also canceled some events this week amid reports of burnout.
“I know you’re not talking about someone being lucid and convincing and enunciating their thoughts clearly, but you’re bragging about Donald Trump,” Smith said. ‘We can’t be seeing the same thing if that’s what you’re doing.
Smith was on ‘Hannity’ to talk about Kamala Harris’ campaign, but he took a shot at Trump
“You’re not doing that today.”
Smith, who has criticized liberal and conservative politicians over the years, was quick to point out that another Hannity guest, Sen. Lindsey Graham, “can articulate himself very well.”
Then he added: “It’s not Donald Trump now.”
Hannity tried to intervene, but only managed to spin his wheels as Smith put his hand to his chin and smiled at the camera.
“I’ve sat with him hour after hour, topic after topic after topic, and he’s very focused,” Hannity said.
Once again, Smith disagreed.
‘Actually?’ asked. ‘Didn’t you cancel your press conferences?’
Smith made it clear that he is not opposed to the Grand Old Party in its entirety, but he refuses to listen to Hannity defend Trump’s integrity.
“When you bring up issues in terms of character, or in terms of being sincere, or whatever, let me tell you something right now: You can bring in a bunch of Republicans and I’ll be fine with that,” he said. “You can’t mention Trump to make a case against someone else using those arguments.”