Describing Donald Trump’s electoral victory over Kamala Harris as a ‘thorough a** kicking,’ ESPN star Stephen A. Smith issued a brutal assessment of the Democrats’ performance in 2024.
‘Ain’t 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 the Democrats got their a** 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 New York Times’ latest figures.
To the increasingly political Smith, Trump’s victory resulted from a better nomination process within the Republican party.
Whereas the billionaire reality television 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 choice, as well as the party’s shadowy pivot to Vice President Kamala Harris, didn’t help matters, according to Smith.
Stephen A. Smith issued a brutal assessment of the Democrats’ performance in 2024
Smith slammed Biden’s decision to run again and the process that led to Harris’ nomination
‘Trump’s been the Republican nominee since 2016,’ Smith said. ‘It is clear that is who conservatives want in the White House. That’s who they supported. They didn’t give a damn about the 34 indictments. They didn’t give a damn about two impeachments. They didn’t give a damn about all the legal issues and all the lawfare that the Democrats engaged in. They said: ”Joe, that’s who we want.”’
The Democrats, Smith said, ‘greased the skids’ in settling on Harris, adding that the party did something similar in 2016 when Hillary Clinton got the nomination over Bernie Sanders amid widespread infighting on the left.
To Smith, Clinton won the nomination in 2016 with the help of the party because it was perceived to be her ‘turn.’
At the time, the DNC was embroiled in controversy after WikiLeaks published internal emails purporting to show the party’s preference for Clinton over Sanders. However, debates continue to this day over whether that preference led to a tangible advantage for Clinton, who went on to lose to Trump in the general election.
‘That’s for the voters to decide,’ Smith said. ‘And a lot of times the Democratic party seems as though they’ve got their claws in the mix.’
But the most egregious move by the Democrats was Biden’s decision to run for re-election after once positioning himself as a transitional leader for the party’s next generation of candidates, Smith explained.
‘Your a** was gonna be 82-years-old in the White House,’ Smith said, remarking on Biden’s age.
‘Oh, so you’re looking forward with a guy who is gonna be 82 and would leave office when he’s 86?’ Smith asked. ‘Really y’all? I’m sitting there like, ”You got to be s***ting me.”
‘I knew I wasn’t voting for Trump.,’ Smith continued. ‘I knew that wasn’t gonna happen. I was saying to myself: ”What are you thinking? What are you thinking?”’
Smith knew he wasn’t going to vote for Trump, but admitted Biden’s decision to stay in the race left him with a dilemma: ‘Your a** was gonna be 82-years-old in the White House’
Although he admits the Democrats have a ‘weak bullpen’ when it comes to candidates, Smith did tell Maher that he supporters Maryland Governor Wes Moore (pictured)
The result, as Smith illustrated with boxing analogies, was an ‘a** kicking.’
‘Similar to Terrence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr,’ Smith said, referencing Crawford’s knockout victory over his welterweight rival in 2023. ‘Yup, that works. It was that kind of a** kicking.’
Smith’s political turn has coincided with his ongoing contract negotiations with ESPN. Previously the New York Post reported Smith earns $12 million annually with the Worldwide Leader, but he’s rumored to be in the market for a nine-figure deal.
‘[Dallas Cowboys quarterback] Dak Prescott just signed a contract for $240 million,’ Smith told the Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace show in September. ‘He’s making $60 million a year. Has 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’m fully aware of what I’m worth, and I will never apologize to that for anybody.’
Although he admits the Democrats have a ‘weak bullpen’ when it comes to candidates, Smith did tell Maher that he supporters Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
