The criticism of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reached a new level this week, as the “First Take” star attended a White House dinner hosted by President Trump in Washington, D.C.
Smith, who considers himself to be a political independent, says that he attended the dinner to push President Trump on his support for HBCUs.
“It was shocking. I certainly didn’t expect that amount of time,” Smith told CNN’s Laura Coates Friday night. “I give him all the credit in the world because he didn’t run from any questions. Anything we asked him, he kept coming back at us with the things that he had to say.”
Smith says that he respects how President Trump believes in himself.
“As it pertains to the economy, no, he says what he always says, and he firmly believes in himself,” Smith said. “Obviously everything gets better. That’s his mentality.”
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Not everyone agrees with what Stephen A. Smith is selling about his White House dinner, though.
Former ESPN star Jemele Hill was among those to call him out.
“Let’s just be honest here: Donald Trump has zero interest in improving the lives of Black folks in this country and has never been serious about helping our community. In policy, deed, action and rhetoric, he has proven this repeatedly. Just last week, his administration launched an investigation into the programs Wells Fargo instituted a decade to increase Black home ownership. Does that sound like someone who is open to changing course about how he has treated our community? His nonstop attack on DEI programs, federal budget cuts that had a disproportionate impact on Black federal workers, censorship of Black history or outright removal of Black historic figures, cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP — does any of that sound like someone who is willing to change their approach?” she wrote on X.
“He got exactly what he wanted out of this dinner. He ran right to the media to brag about how much celebrities like him. He wanted to prove his power and how much people are dying to have access to him. Congratulations, he did exactly that. How many times are y’all going to fall for the banana in the tailpipe?”
Hill is not Smith’s only former ESPN coworker to be calling him out, though
Former ESPN star Jalen Rose, who made several appearances on “First Take” over the years, is among those who has been publicly “hating” on Smith for several years now.
Back in 2023, Rose publicly called out Smith with a post on X.
“So glad I didn’t make a career of content pretending to fake troll the Cowboys,” he wrote, clearly calling out the “First Take” star.
Smith has his fair share of critics, of course, but he still brings in a ton of eyeballs for the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
