Listen, even with all of the chaos and utter ridiculousness that has occurred under the second Trump administration, I still didn’t have Stephen A. Smith beefing with the president on my 2026 Bingo card. Seriously, who would’ve thought that ESPN’s resident shucker and jiver — who occasionally veers off into discussing politics long enough to let the world know he doesn’t know anything about politics — would grow enough of a spine to actually speak ill of President Donald Trump, who he usually defends against Black people accusing him of racism? This truly has become the strangest timeline.
As we previously reported, ahead of Game 3 of the NBA finals, which the San Antonio Spurs won 115-111 over the New York Knicks, Smith had one message for the president: stay your ass at home!
Smith claimed his wish that Trump abstain from attending the game was not about politics but logistics, vibes and what’s best for New Yorkers. He even said he would blame Trump if the Knicks lost, which they did. In response, Trump, who was loudly booed before the game began — and was predictably in denial of that fact after the game — told reporters that Smith is a “nice guy,” but that he lacks the “aptitude” and “high IQ” to run for president, which Smith occasionally muses about doing, not that literally anyone takes him seriously. (Although, to be fair, many of us once said the same of Trump.)
Well, to my delightful surprise, Smith’s tap-dancing shoes came to a grinding halt and he was having none of Trump’s shade, especially as it pertained to his IQ.
“You wanna talk about IQ,” Smith said Tuesday, during an episode of ESPN’s First Take. “I could put my IQ against yours. I got something even better — I could ask you why you been running from me for the past year since I asked you to talk to me. I could ask you to debate me since you think you’re that dude. We could go a myriad of ways.”
Now, I don’t know when Smith challenged Trump to a debate, because I don’t get involved in blowhard-on-blowhard crime, but apparently Smith has been trying to make a political rival out of Trump for some time. Again, who would’ve thought?
Smith did say he appreciated Trump calling him a “nice guy, till you tug at me a little bit, then after that I’ve got to show my other side.” But before all of that, Smith was roasting the president for being asleep at Maddison Square Garden, even going as far as to poke the MAGA bear by invoking former President “Sleepy” Joe Biden.
“And guess what he was doing during the game, ladies and gentlemen. Go online, look at the videos,” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “I’m not going to accuse him of snoring because I wasn’t in earshot. The brother wasn’t awake.”
He pressed on, saying that if it was so important for the president “to be there, why did you look like you were asleep? Didn’t you call out former President Joe Biden, ‘Sleepy Joe’? Well, what should we call you. Because you weren’t awake.”
I mean, he wasn’t lying.
Now, y’all know damn well the second Smith even mentioned Biden, Trump’s tone was going to go from “I think he’s a nice guy,” to “Smith is an arrogant fool,” a “low-IQ individual,” and “dumb as a rock,” which, as I noted previously, are insults Trump tends to reserve almost exclusively for Black people.
Somewhere, Biden is wondering why Trump can’t seem to beef with anyone without him catching a stray.
Now, look, I noted in my last report that “Smith could grow a spine and clap back at Trump by pointing out that the president doesn’t know the difference between IQ tests and a dementia screening, and thinks it’s a flex that his doctors keep having him take the latter.” I concluded, however, that he wouldn’t do it, because “he’s just too much of a good old boy when he knows white folks are watching,” but, now, I don’t know. Perhaps a couple of personal attacks on his intelligence are all it takes for Smith to go full-anti-MAGA. We shall see.
