Describing Donald Trump’s election victory over Kamala Harris as a ‘painstaking kick in the ass,’ ESPN star Stephen A. Smith issued a brutal assessment of Democrats’ 2024 performance.
“There’s no way around it, Bill,” Smith told comedian and talk show host Bill Maher on the latest episode of Club Random. “You know more politics than me, but a blind man can see that the Democrats got their asses kicked.”
Not only did the Republican candidate win 312 of 538 total electoral votes, but Trump also won the popular vote after being named on 49.988 percent of all ballots, according to the latest figures from the New York Times.
For the increasingly political Smith, Trump’s victory was the result of a better nomination process within the Republican Party.
While the billionaire reality TV star easily won Republican support in 2016, 2020 and 2024, the Democrats’ nomination process was complicated by Biden’s doomed decision to seek re-election. And the president’s belated reversal of that election, as well as the party’s dark turn toward Vice President Kamala Harris, didn’t help matters, according to Smith.
Stephen A. Smith Issued Brutal Assessment of Democrats’ 2024 Performance
Smith criticized Biden’s decision to run again and the process that led to Harris’ nomination
“Trump has been the Republican nominee since 2016,” Smith said. ‘It’s clear that’s what conservatives want in the White House. That’s who they supported. They didn’t give a damn about the 34 accusations. They didn’t give a damn about two political trials. They didn’t give a damn about all the legal issues and all the legal warfare that the Democrats participated in. They said, “Joe, that’s what we want.”
Democrats, Smith said, “greased the ship” by settling on Harris, adding that the party did something similar in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the nomination over Bernie Sanders amid widespread infighting on the left.
For Smith, Clinton won the nomination in 2016 with the party’s help because it was perceived as her “turn.”
At the time, the Democratic National Committee became embroiled in controversy after WikiLeaks published internal emails purporting to show the party’s preference for Clinton over Sanders. To this day, however, debates continue over whether that preference led to a tangible advantage for Clinton, who lost to Trump in the general election.
“That’s for the voters to decide,” Smith said. “And a lot of times it seems like the Democratic Party has its claws in the mix.”
But the Democrats’ most egregious move was Biden’s decision to run for re-election after once positioning himself as a transition leader for the party’s next generation of candidates, Smith explained.
“Your ass was going to be 82 years old in the White House,” Smith said, commenting on Biden’s age.
‘Oh, so you’re waiting for a guy who’s going to be 82 and leave office when he’s 86?’ -Smith asked. ‘Really all of you? I’m sitting there like, “You’ve got to be fucking with me.”
“I knew I wasn’t voting for Trump,” Smith continued. ‘I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I said to myself, “What are you thinking?” What are you thinking? ”
Smith knew he wasn’t going to vote for Trump, but admitted that Biden’s decision to stay in the race left him with a dilemma: “Your ass was going to be in the White House for 82 years.”
Although he admits that Democrats have a “weak bullpen” when it comes to candidates, Smith told Maher that he supports Maryland Governor Wes Moore (pictured).
The result, as Smith illustrated with boxing analogies, was a ‘kick in the butt’.
“Similar to Terrence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr,” Smith said, referring to Crawford’s knockout victory over his welterweight rival in 2023. “Yeah, that works. It was that kind of butt-kicking.”
Smith’s political turn coincided with his ongoing contract negotiations with ESPN. Previously, the New York Post reported that Smith makes $12 million a year with the world leader, but is rumored to be in the market for a nine-figure deal.
“(Dallas Cowboys quarterback) Dak Prescott just signed a $240 million contract,” Smith told Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace in September. “He makes $60 million a year. They have won two playoff games in eight years.
‘I’ve been number one for 12 years. I’m sorry; In our respective industries I win, and I am fully aware of my worth, and I will never apologize for that to anyone.’
Although he admits that Democrats have a “weak bullpen” when it comes to candidates, Smith told Maher that he supports Maryland Governor Wes Moore.