The fallout of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony has been exhausting, to say the least.
The discourse in the aftermath has surrounded the display depicting the Greek myth celebration “Festivity” featuring the god Dionysus. And it struck a chord with some who saw it as a diss toward the Christian scene of the Last Supper as depicted by Leonardo Da Vinci’s legendary painting.
You had Pat McAfee saying to leave politics out of the Olympics (seriously), and now you have those like Stephen A. Smith attempting to argue its political impact.
Stephen A. Smith goes off on the Olympics Opening Ceremony and speaks about the negative impact it could have on the Democrats in the 2024 presidential election.
(🎥 Stephen A Smith/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/M6tS9xQd6b
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) July 30, 2024
“You had conservatives talking about how they had their children watching the Opening Ceremonies and didn’t know that’s what they were gonna see,” said Smith. And I saw some of the dancing; I’m an adult. I saw some of the dancing out there… Just because you paint somebody in blue don’t mean they ain’t naked. That person that was in blue was naked. Am I lying? Am I lying? They were naked! There was no warning here. It’s not required for adults; I get that part.
“But Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, you know, a bunch of people were watching that with their children. And some people don’t want their children seeing that. Whether you like it or not, folks have a right to want their children to see and not see what they choose. I don’t have a problem. Remember, I’m a conservative with my dollars; I’m a liberal every other way. I’m liberal. I get it. I’m cool. But I know tens of millions of conservatives that won’t be.”
Smith, who previously argued that Donald Trump’s assassination attempt would win the former president the election, is now arguing that an Olympic ceremony that was nearly 5,000 miles away from the homeland could have a direct impact on the upcoming presidential election.
“And there’s an election coming up,” he said. “…Because I’m here in the United States of America… I know that when people go to the polls, there’s usually one overlapping dominant issue that influenced who they vote for. So, what if all of a sudden, Roe v. Wade, immigration, and the economy suddenly didn’t become the priority that religion is? What if folks decided to go to the polls because I either love what I say or I can’t stand what I saw? You ever think about that? I don’t think they did.”
Again, this took place in Paris. No members of the Democratic National Committee were in charge of the Opening Ceremony. Nor did Vice President Kamala Harris send any directives from a nearly 10-hour plane ride away. Smith, however, insists that Republican might not see it that way.
“But the conservatives did everywhere,” Smith continued as he pulled up a tweet from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in the background. “And who knows how they’ll react to it? But, in closing, one of my boys, who’s a staunch Republican, who I made go to the polls and vote for (Barack) Obama in 2008, by the way. He always says something to me that I can’t escape. He said, ‘Liberals, progressives, Democrats, y’all argue; y’all fuss; y’all fight; y’all protest.’ He said, ‘Republicans, we just go to the polls. We ain’t got nothing to say. We roll right up to the polls. That’s what he said.”
Smith’s dear friend must not have taken a not-so-friendly stroll through Facebook or flipped the channel to Fox News if he believes this was the America he lives in. And not for nothing, Joe Biden broke Obama’s record for most votes ever cast for a U.S. presidential candidate in 2020.
“And then I remember Katt Williams doing his stand-up… and he talked about after Trump won the election in 2016, and he said, ‘You had folks at the polls like they knew something nobody else knew…’ Just stepping closer to the polls with a pep in their step,” Smith adds, “because they knew what they were gonna do. When it comes to politics, every little thing matters as the election approaches, especially religion.
“And whether it was their intent or not, a religious outrage was sparked. Only time will tell what kind of effect this truly has on an election, but it’s a thought worth thinking about.”
Is it?
