When ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith usually goes on a long-winded rant, it’s about a trending topic in the world of sports. That wasn’t the case during a recent appearance on NewsNation.
Smith has appeared on NewsNation’s “Cuomo” a plethora of times over the past year. Some fans believe he’s soft-launching his career as a politician. After all, he’s considering a run for United States president in 2028.
“Here’s the reality: People, literally people, have walked up to me, including my own pastor, for crying out loud, who has said to me, ‘You don’t know what God has planned for you. At least show the respect to the people who believe in you, who respect you, who believe that you can make a difference in this country, to leave the door open for any possibilities some to three years down the line.’ And that’s what I’ve decided to do,” Smith said.
Smith’s future in politics is unclear at this time. What we do know, however, is that he’s not on great terms with CNN host Jake Tapper.
Tapper released a new book titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” It details the mental decline of Joe Biden during his term as president.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 08: Sports television personality Stephen A. Smith is seen on Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centeron February 08, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)Rob Carr/Getty Images
Unsurprisingly, Tapper has received a lot of criticism for his book about Biden. While on NewsNation, Smith said that Tapper deserves any backlash heading his way.
“But why did, why did he deserve it? Here is why. You got the video of him talking to Lara Trump and how — how condescending he was to her, etc. And I’m certainly not here to throw shade on him; I don’t play that game,” Smith said, via The Hill. “I’m just talking about the facts. They are what they are, and we see it.
“And so it’s about how you were acting towards people who had the audacity to be opposite and express some level of dissent to what you were saying, and what you were reporting on, and what your network was reporting on. It’s not the fact that you were just wrong. It was the defiance and the condescending approach that you had, a dismissive approach that you had towards others.”
Tapper would probably agree with Smith’s assessment.
“I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest,” Tapper told CNN. “Of me, certainly. I’m not going to speak for anybody else, but knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years — and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on it with humility.”
We’ll see if Tapper fires back at the ESPN personality in the coming days.
Related: President Trump Makes His Opinion On Stephen A. Smith Clear
Stephen A. Smith Not Happy With Popular CNN Anchor’s Behavior first appeared on The Spun on May 22, 2025
