Stephen A. Smith says Trump is an ‘upgrade’ over Biden in alertness
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President Donald Trump is an “upgrade” over former President Joe Biden, Stephen A. Smith said Sunday amid ongoing bickering.
Smith was asked about his and Trump’s mutual comments on last week’s decision to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in honor of the New York Knicks.
Although Smith previously claimed that Trump fell asleep during the Knicks game, he insisted that Trump was an “upgrade” over Biden in terms of sharpness despite the barbs between the two.
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Stephen A. Smith criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
“Well, I don’t know anyone who would associate the word ‘sharp’ with anything. [Trump] because, to be honest, sometimes he doesn’t seem that sharp with some of the decisions he makes,” Smith said. “But I’m not here to denigrate or insult the President of the United States on this. His alertness and what have you, it’s definitely an upgrade from what we’ve seen from Joe Biden. I can definitely say that I wouldn’t blame him for this. But I will not insult the president.”
Although he continued to claim that Trump was “asleep” during the game, the ESPN host shrugged off that concern and noted that the president “had a lot on his plate.” But Smith took issue with Trump’s past comments referring to him as a “low IQ individual.”
“When you want to sit there and question my IQ and talk to me about people who would smoke me in a debate, why don’t you do it yourself? Why defer to someone else? Because I’d be more than happy to sit across from the president and debate some of the decisions he’s made. And I’m not interested in running for office or anything like that,” Smith said.
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President Donald Trump called Stephen A. Smith a “low IQ” individual for his comments. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
When asked for comment by Fox News Digital, the White House referred to Trump’s Truth Social post criticizing Smith on Wednesday.
“Stephen A. Smith is an arrogant idiot, an individual with a low IQ. In other words, he is ‘dumb as a rock’ and is too unqualified to consider running for high political office, or even low political office! He would be destroyed in a debate by the most incompetent politicians. Joe Biden’s now ‘legendary’ performance would seem great compared to anything this loud-mouthed grifter could offer, which is far from it! They will kick him out of politics in a few weeks!!!” Trump wrote.
The feud between Smith and Trump began when Smith criticized Trump’s decision to attend Game 3, calling it “selfish” and “narcissistic.” After the Knicks’ 115-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Smith blamed Trump for the loss, claiming that his presence sapped the team’s momentum.
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In response to Smith’s comments, Trump appeared to mock Smith’s presidential aspirations in a comment to Fox News Digital.
“I think he’s a good man, but you need a certain talent to run for president,” Trump said. “You need a high IQ. I’m not sure Stephen has that. In fact, I don’t think he does.”
Stephen A. Smith refused to criticize Trump after the New York Knicks won the NBA championship. (Getty Images)
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On Saturday, Smith appeared willing to bury the hatchet after the Knicks won their first NBA title in 53 years.
“The Knicks just won the championship. I don’t care about politics or anything like that. I don’t care. You can ask me tomorrow, you can ask me on Tuesday. But right now, the New York Knicks have ended a 53-year drought. I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life. And I’m not going to let anything get in the way of that,” Smith told OutKick/Fox News Digital.
