Stephen A. Smith joined Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday night and defended Donald Trump after the former president controversially claimed Black Americans relate to him “being discriminated against.”
Trump made the comment in February, as he boasted about his criminal indictments while speaking at a gala organized by the Black Conservative Federation.
“And then I got indicted a second time and then a third time and a fourth time!” Trump told the audience. “And a lot of people said that that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against. And they actually viewed me as– I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing.”
Two months later, Stephen A. Smith is defending those comments, expressing outrage over the criminal trials against Trump and claiming the former president was right to compare his current legal situation to that which Black Americans have experienced.
https://twitter.com/realandyhidalgo/status/1781168991433633798
“Dare I say something that might– will probably be termed the most uncomfortable thing that I’ve ever had to articulate out of my mouth from a political perspective.” Smith said on Hannity. “But I gotta tell you something. As much as people may have been abhorred by Donald Trump’s statement weeks ago talking about how Black folks, he’s hearing that Black folks find him relatable because of what he is going through is similar to what Black Americans have gone through, he wasn’t lying! He was telling the truth.
“When you see the law, law enforcement, the court system, and everything else being exercised against him, it is something that Black folks throughout this nation can relate to with some of our historic, iconic figures. We’ve seen that happen throughout society.
“So, no matter what race, what ethnicity you may emanate from, we relate to you when you’re suffering like that, cause we know we have. And that’s what he articulated. As unpopular as it was, as much as we didn’t like to hear it, it’s the truth. And there’s no way around it. Those are all contributing factors to the state of affairs with the slippage that appears to be taking fold when it comes to President Biden, unfortunately.”
Charles Barkley heard the same comments from the former president and threatened to “punch” any “Black person walking around with a Trump mug shot” shirt during his now defunct CNN show. But after the criminal trial against Trump kicked off this week with jury selection, Smith took a far different approach toward the Republican presidential candidate than Barkley did.
Earlier this week on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith ranted about the ongoing prosecution against Trump in New York, labeling the former president’s hush money trial a “disaster” and “much ado about nothing.” He took his outrage over Trump’s criminal trials a step further on Fox News Thursday night by admitting he was articulating the “most uncomfortable thing” to ever come out of his mouth. Smith already stated he would be voting for Joe Biden in the upcoming election, but after his recent defense of Trump, it certainly seems like the ESPN host won’t be doing the incumbent any favors.
[Mediaite]