ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes that should former President Donald Trump get re-elected to a second term in 2024, a civil war in the country could break out.
While appearing on ‘Outkick The Show‘ with host and founder Clay Travis, the two ultimately landed on the discussion of the presidential election when Smith made his incendiary claim. However, his opinion of a Trump victory wasn’t an endorsement of Biden as he made clear; Smith wanted it known that he felt that neither incumbent President Joe Biden nor Trump have earned another four years in the White House, and that’d he’d much rather have anyone else.
“I would vote third party in a heartbeat if I thought it could win an election,” Smith told Travis. “I’m not enamored with either candidate. I’m not as down on all of Trump’s policies as people are, there are some good things he’s done.
“I’m from an HBCU and I know that he did things for HBCUs, but I think he’s so divisive that he could potentially cause a civil war in this country. That’s my concern about him.”
Smith further stated that while he may have mixed opinions of others in the GOP field regarding public policy, in terms of personality they would bring “considerably more decorum and dare I say decency.”
To make it clearer, Smith added that “we need a new President,” emphasizing that he doesn’t feel Joe Biden is up for the task.
Smith, known for his liberal viewpoints, surprisingly defended former President Trump against accusations of racism during the Semafor Media Summit last April. An audience member asked Smith about his thoughts on Trump, and Smith recounted that before Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, he enjoyed interacting with him during events at Trump’s casinos.
Smith acknowledged that Trump seemed to have changed during his campaign for the GOP nomination, but he disagreed with the common narrative of Trump being racist. Smith argued that Trump is not against black people, but rather, he is against anything not beneficial to himself.
This statement from Smith, a left-wing figure in sports media, comes as unexpected and significant. However, Smith clarified that while he isn’t completely opposed to voting for a Republican, he wouldn’t vote for Trump if he were the nominee in 2024.
