A BLOW TO THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT; CLEO C. FIELDS (D-LA); ROBERT REICH

Summary

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The Stephen A. Smith Show – April 30, 2026

Episode Title: A BLOW TO THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT; CLEO C. FIELDS (D-LA); ROBERT REICH
Host: Stephen A. Smith
Guests: Rep. Cleo C. Fields (D-LA), Robert Reich (former Labor Secretary), Callers

Episode Overview

This episode is a deeply engaged, multi-faceted discussion, pivoting from recent Supreme Court rulings on voting rights—in particular, the striking down of Louisiana’s congressional map—toward broader questions of political rhetoric, responsibility, and the persistent threats to American democracy. Stephen A. Smith navigates the discomforting currents of contemporary politics with candor, fielding calls from frustrated listeners, and holding analytical, personal, and practical conversations with Rep. Cleo Fields and veteran political analyst Robert Reich.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Supreme Court’s Ruling and its Impact

• Summary of Ruling:
  • Supreme Court invalidated a Louisiana congressional map that had included a second Black-majority district, calling it an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
  • The decision makes it harder to prove racial discrimination under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, resulting in nationwide concern about disenfranchisement of minority voters.
  • Smith repeatedly underscores the ruling as a "devastating blow" to civil rights, expressing personal offense as a Black American and framing the court’s logic as dangerously circular: “Racial gerrymandering is illegal. Partisan gerrymandering is not.”
• Memorable Quote

  “I'll be damned if I don't feel this is racist. I'll be damned if I don't feel like this is a concerted effort ... when it ventures beyond to a point where it violates something as important as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as a black man, it offends me.” — Stephen A. Smith (12:21)

2. Political Rhetoric, Violence, and Responsibility

• Personal Anecdote (03:30–09:00):
  Smith recounts direct experience during a recent security threat at the Washington Hilton, linking the event to incendiary political rhetoric and the climate enabling violence. He runs through a poll he posted, showing that most respondents blame Democrats and the media for current political volatility—but sharply criticizes the hypocrisy across the board.
• Notable Quote

  “None of this is going to die down. A matter of fact, it's going to get worse. … It's going to get worse because of this ruling.” — Stephen A. Smith (11:45)

3. Historical Context: Vulnerability of Democratic Institutions

• Voting Rights Act History:
  • Smith and Fields refer to the Reconstruction amendments, the history of obstacles placed before Black voters (literacy tests, poll taxes), and the incremental erosion of protections—framed via references to Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and the loss of “pre-clearance.”
• Judicial & Political Responsibility:
  • Critique of the Democratic Party’s strategic omissions, focusing particularly on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s refusal to retire during Obama’s presidency and the consequences for the Supreme Court’s composition.
  • Quote:

  “Her personal feelings and ego got in the way … That reeked of arrogance. To assume that Hillary Rodham Clinton was going to win. Look at what that's done. That's made our court six, three majority instead of five-four.” — Stephen A. Smith (50:32)

4. Guest: Rep. Cleo Fields (D-LA) Interview (40:00 – 47:50)

• Supreme Court's Decision: Fields directly states the court “got it wrong,” emphasizing how, despite Section 2, Black Louisianans will now struggle to achieve political representation.
  • Quote:

    “If you tell me I gotta be white to be a member of Congress from Louisiana, there's nothing I can do about that. I need a little help from my government. And unfortunately, the Supreme Court ruled against the district.” — Rep. Cleo Fields (36:54)

• Call for Legislative Action:
  • Advocates for passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, making the law clear to prevent further judicial dismantling.
  • Points out that gerrymandering for partisan advantage is now openly permitted, while race-based considerations are barred—even when redressing historical disenfranchisement.
• Bipartisanship and Civic Engagement:
  • Encourages not giving up hope and urges record turnout in future elections, stating future Congresses, if led by Democrats, could reverse the damage.
    • “Right now I'm caught between hope and expectations. I hope, but I don't expect. But the next Congress … Democrats will be in control and Democrats will, you know, I mean, there are three branches of government … And I think you will have that ... I think you'll see some changes.” — Rep. Cleo Fields (42:47)

5. Guest: Robert Reich Interview (53:51 – 77:25)

• Reaction to Court Ruling:
  • Reich calls the ruling a setback, adding personal context from his civil rights activism in the 1960s, and lays blame on the Roberts Court for being fundamentally hostile to minority rights.
    • “A Supreme Court so fundamentally hostile to the rights of minority voters places the court at odds with democracy itself. This is the legacy of John Roberts.” — Robert Reich (55:09)
• On Gerrymandering:
  • Reich notes both parties engage in it, but blue states are reacting to and attempting to “neutralize” red state maneuvers. He advocates for independent commissions.
  • Quote:

    “You want to preserve democracy? ... Take away any advantage. If you gerrymander, we Democratic states are going to do exactly the same, but only to the extent that you've done it…” — Robert Reich (58:44)

• Immigration & Voting Myths:
  • Dismisses claims of widespread illegal voting by immigrants as a “charade perpetrated by Trump” with “no evidence.” (60:05)
• Economic Analysis:
  • Reich laments rising inequality, the eroding position of working-class Americans, and the misleading populist rhetoric of Trump. He emphasizes the importance of policies such as profit-sharing, getting big money out of politics, and easier voting access.
• Practical Advice for Resistance:
  • Urges Americans to “protect the vulnerable,” be vocal with representatives, boycott irresponsible corporations, and above all, keep voting.
  • “You are powerful … not just as a voter, you’re also powerful as a consumer. Use that power.” — Robert Reich (71:37)
• War in Iran & Presidential Power:
  • Reich blames both Trump and Netanyahu for the ongoing war, criticizing the lack of consultation with Congress or allies.

6. Listener Calls: Reflections from the Public

• Latino and Black Callers Express Anger & Powerlessness (27:22, 30:06):
  • Smith encourages political engagement and dispels the notion of powerlessness:

    “There is always hope to change things around, no matter how bleak things may look from time to time. Don't ever forget that.” (28:55)

• Debate Over Democratic Party Leadership:
  • Smith and callers discuss strategic missteps, such as Ginsburg’s failure to retire, and Biden’s promise to be a transitional president.
• Barriers Facing Black Americans Discussed Externally vs Internally:
  • Callers note that while pain and disillusion exist within communities, external forums and media neglect broad, honest discussion of Black experiences.
  • “Every time the election goes close, that's when they start doing it. Prior to that, Black folks are, you know, bottom of the food chain.” — Stephen A. Smith (32:16)
• On Partisanship and Findings Solutions:
  • Many callers, and Smith himself, echo deep frustration with both parties for prioritizing power over principle.

    “Some point in time you have to make up your mind, okay, based on how you live and how you feel and not just follow somebody... But what I don't like is when you have somebody in charge who is definitely has no character at all.” — T Love, caller (96:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Stephen A. Smith (on personal impact):

  “As a black man, it offends me ... There's no way on earth that you should be a black person in this country and feel good about what just happened.” (12:21)

• Rep. Cleo Fields (on Supreme Court’s ruling):

  “If you tell me I gotta be white to be a member of Congress from Louisiana, there's nothing I can do about that.” (36:54)

• Robert Reich (on the Roberts Court):

  “A Supreme Court so fundamentally hostile to the rights of minority voters places the court at odds with democracy itself. This is the legacy of Chief Justice John Roberts.” (55:09)

• Caller (T Love):

  “I would not fall on a sword for either one of them… Some point in time you have to make up your mind, okay, based on how you live and how you feel and not just follow somebody because somebody else followed them or somebody loves them.” (96:22)

• Stephen A. Smith (on civic action):

  “Don’t ever feel powerless because you can make a difference as long as you’re active and your mind is active and you go to the polls and you vote ... There is always hope to change things around, no matter how bleak things may look from time to time.” (28:55)

• Robert Reich (on misinformation):

  “There’s very little evidence that people who are not entitled to vote in elections are actually doing that. ... There is no evidence. And that to me, that's the nub of the charade that Trump has been perpetrating on America.” (60:05)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:30–09:00] – Stephen A. Smith’s personal account of the Washington Hilton shooting scare; reflections on political violence
• [11:45–18:36] – Initial breakdown and implications of the Supreme Court’s Louisiana redistricting decision
• [34:14–47:50] – Interview with Rep. Cleo Fields
• [53:51–77:25] – Interview with Robert Reich
• [27:22, 30:06, 96:14] – Notable caller reflections
• [50:32] – Blunt critique of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy and the consequences for the court

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Conclusion & Takeaways

Stephen A. Smith closes with calls for vigilance, engagement, and honesty:
He insists that neither despair nor blind partisanship can guide the path forward and that change will come only through informed, collective action at both the ballot box and in civic life. The episode resonates with a sense of urgency—about protecting the right to vote, holding leaders accountable regardless of party, and demanding better from the institutions meant to secure American democracy.

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This summary aims to provide a comprehensive roadmap of the episode for those seeking the key topics, arguments, and personalities without having listened in full.

Transcript

[Stephen A. Smith]

Early birds.

[Robert Reich]

Always rise to the occasion for summer

[Stephen A. Smith]

vacation planning because early gets you closer to the action. So don't be late. Book your next vacation early on VRBO and save over $120. Rise and shine average savings $141 select homes only this is a Monday.com ad the same Monday.com designed for every team. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one the samemonday.com with an easy and intuitive setup. Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Welcome to the latest edition of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airways of SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. It's an uncomfortable day, to say the least. To be quite honest with you. Far from an expert on some of these matters, no doubt there's a strong level of discomfort that I come to you with on this particular day, for this particular show, because we learned today that the Supreme Court struck down a voting map in Louisiana and it's considered to be a devastating blow to the landmark Voting Rights act of 1965, which favors the Republican Party. And I think that at a moment like this today, remember just a few days ago, I was in the Nation's capital, Washington, D.C. i was at the Washington Hilton, when a shooter penetrated security, tried to get into the ballroom inside of the hotel, and they said that he wanted to go after the president, wanted to murder President Trump. What they didn't say, or at least I didn't hear people saying, was how there were protesters outside going off about everything from the Epstein files to the war in Iran and various other things that have transpired under this administration and how they considered the media to be complicit in all of it, because the media wasn't putting forth its due diligence and doing its job. So for a few seconds while we were in that ballroom over the weekend, many, many of us who all had to duck for cover, literally get on the floor under the table and stay there because Secret Service was screaming at us to get down and stay down while we were in there. For a few moments, we thought that a shooter had penetrated security, gotten into the room and was possibly going to engage in a mass shooting, not just aimed at the president or the vice president, but certainly an inordinate amount of media members that were in attendance. I bring that up because in the aftermath of all of that, we have been told that we need to dial down the rhetoric that the vitriol has got to stop. That there's no excuse for political violence, if not violence, period. That somehow, some way, this is the United States of America is the greatest nation in the world. And because it is that way and we are a democratic society and every two years we get to elect representatives in the House, and every four years we get to elect who the President is going to be for the White House, and every six years we get to play a role in electing who the senators are going to be. That we need to dial it back because America is cyclical. It's not stuck. And change is always inevitable. The question whose rhetoric contributed the most to the current climate of political violence in the United States of America? This is a poll conducted by yours truly, Stephen A. Smith, on my X account. It said that Republicans how many people think their rhetoric contributed to the most to the current climate of political violence in America? 1% said it was proposed, it was Republicans. 22% says it's President Trump. 33% says it's the media, 44% said it's Democrats. Either way you slice it, Democrats combined with the media make up over 75%. As it pertains to those polled, over 75% of the people polled blame the media and Democrats for the volatility that presently exists in this country today. The White House statement at that time Democrats unhinged rhetoric incites third assassination attempt on President Trump this past week. And another radical left lunatic attempted to assassinate President Donald J. Trump, the third such attack on President Trump in under two years. The attack was not random. It was the predictable result of years of reckless, inflammatory and escalating rhetoric from Democrats. By relentlessly smearing President Trump, his administration and the tens of millions of Americans as fascists, Nazis and threats, these sick Democrats have created a toxic environment that incites their supporters to violence again and again. As Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said, the manifesto of the would be assassin reads like Democrat talking points indistinguishable from the words we hear daily from their party. Let me say this. I have two things to say. Number one, I don't want to hear that from anybody coming out of the White House because the president's rhetoric is as despicable as anybody's. You may not use words like Nazis and fascists and stuff like that, but you've called Democrats sick. You've proclaimed them to be anti American. You've called them worse than that on many, many, many occasions. So I don't want to hear that from the President of the United States, who engage. Who, in terms of engaging in decorum, is one of the last things that he does. But that is not the point of me bringing it up. The point of me bringing it up, ladies and gentlemen, is because I'm here to give you very, very, very bad news. None of this is going to die down. A matter of fact, it's going to get worse. It's going to get worse, and it's going to get worse because of this ruling that has come down from the Supreme Court. Now, for those that may not understand, they may have a difficult time really grasping what's transpiring, because I myself am challenged at times with this stuff, understand that. The Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's congressional map, which included a second black majority district, by the way, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, even though the state had drawn that district after a lower federal court found its previous map likely violated the Voting Rights Act. Somehow, some way, the Supreme Court reached this ruling. The decision does not ban the use of race and redistricting, but it tightens the legal standards, making clear that states cannot rely too heavily on race even when attempting to comply with federal voting rights law. While a ruling doesn't eliminate challenges to congressional maps, it raises the bar for proving racial discrimination is expected to make Voting Rights act cases more difficult to win going forward, which is why so many people are in an uproar and to some degree should be, make no mistake about it. To discuss this further, Louisiana's original map was challenged under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 states says that states cannot draw voting maps that weaken or dilute the voting power of minority groups like black voters. Yet many argue that it happened today. They did it anyway. And in Louisiana, residents make up about one third of the population. But the state originally had only one majority black congressional district out of six, and now that's being compromised. A federal court said that likely violated Section 2 because Black voters were large enough and geographically grouped enough to form a second district. And the original map may have reduced their ability to elect candidates they prefer. That was before today. But the Supreme Court's ruling today says that even if the new map brought the number of majority black districts closer to the state's population share, the way Louisiana drew that second district was the problem. So, in other words, racial gerrymandering, as we all know, is against the law. You know what? You didn't know partisan gerrymandering is not. In other words, if you're a Democrat or you're A Republican, and you decide that redistricting is what you want to do to gain favor with voters out there as a Democrat or a Republican Party, it is perfectly legal. Perfectly legal. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, when you instigate stuff, when you gauge you engage in a fight, it would be helpful to know that you could win. So when Trump started it in the state of Texas, egged on by Governor Abbott trying to create five additional seats in the state of Texas for himself, here come Gavin Newsom in California, and he did it. And here came newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, and she did it. And the list would go on and on. And you saw politicians encouraging it because, guess what? It's perfectly legal to do. Nobody at the time brought up the fact that the. Ultimately, the Voting Rights act of 1965 would be compromised. And now, as a result, votes of black people, who, by the way, make up 13.6% of the population, who, by the way, is no longer the dominant minority, who, by the way, as time sifts on and on and on, whether it's white men, whether it's white women, whether it's Latino men and women, we are far from the priority. Far from it. Representative Cleo Fields, Democrat out of Louisiana, spoke on SCOTUS Voting Rights act ruling today. The Supreme Court's ruling this morning is a grave setback to voting rights and to the promise of equal political representation for all Americans. The Supreme Court's majority has significantly narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights act, dismantling decades of settled law that Congress established to ensure that no community's votes could be silenced. The right of every citizen to participate equally in our democracy is not a partisan issue. It is an American one. I will be working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to evaluate all available legislative responses to this ruling and to restore the full protections that that Section 2 was always meant to provide. Allow me to irritate y'.

[Caller]

All.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I understand that partisan gerrymandering is not illegal, but I'll be damned if I don't feel this is racist. I'll be damned if I don't feel like this is a concerted effort. Yes, I understand the importance in politics of gaining favor on a partisan level, but when it ventures beyond to a point where it violates something as important as the Voting Rights act of 1965, as a black man, it offends me and anybody who's inclined to support this, although I'm sure they may have arguments pointing to the Census Bureau reports and illegal immigration and the fact that people are crossing the borders illegally. And the Democrats led under Joe Biden, whether it was 12 or 14 or 15 or 17 million people that crossed the border illegally and in the United States of America. And we know that Census Bureau reports count the total population, not necessarily those who are allowed to vote legally, but instead the total population. I understand the incentive to point to that as an excuse to compromise the Voting Rights act of 1965, But the reality is it still hurts. And it hurts because there is no way on earth that you should be a black person in this country and feel good about what just happened. There's no way when people sit up there, you could talk about it and listen. There are people. And I'm going to get to Trump in a second because he had something to say about this. And I get this. I'm reading the 14th and the 15th amendment, ratified 1868-1870 reconstruction amendments, ensuring citizenship, citizenship rights, equal protection, and voting rights, regardless of race. It says regardless of race, not because of race. So as a Republican, as a conservative, you're going to lean on that to make your point. I got it. If you're a Republican and you're white and you're looking at a black person standing next to you, that's a friend or a loved one, what would you say to them? If you looked them straight in the face, what would you say to them when you tell them that, excuse me, this map is going to be repositioned. Ultimately, voters who happen to be black, who are already vastly outnumbered, are going to be further marginalized. And that that Voting Rights act that was so important to black people in this country is going to contribute to our marginalization because it's been diluted. I understand, technically, theoretically, you can look at the language in the 14th and the 15th amendment, and you can point to that and you could say, okay, what I just said to you, that it says regardless of race, not because of race. I understand it. But I'm asking you a question. When black folks look at this administration and they speak about marginalization and they speak about dilution, if not flat out eradication of our history and our connection to it, and you see attacks, whether it's DEI or something else, even though white women are the biggest beneficiaries of dei, not black people, but when you see a concerted effort to gloss over the iniquities and insidious acts that have contributed historically to this country's fabric, and you want to make sure that that's ignored and there's not a connection to it how are we supposed to feel? Because I've got to tell you something right now, I don't feel good about it. I've know several people that I am friends with that are conservatives. I am not friends with them because of their conservatives. I am friends with them because I know them personally as people. But when the subject of the politics come up and something like this tries to get, tries to get justified, it's going to piss me off. One minute we talking civil rights, 1964. Another minute we're talking voting rights, 1965. What the hell is next? And how come it seems as if these kind of things that affect minorities and marginalized people who aren't white in this country, that's who it's happening to. How come when we look on the streets of America and illegal immigration is being addressed, we're seeing darker skinned individuals being snatched up by ICE and everybody else? Why is that happening? Why is that so conspicuous? What is the issue when we ask those questions? You want answers? I'm not going to call the president racist and Nazi and all of that other stuff. I'm not down with all of that. It's counterproductive. But I would ask the President this rhetorically. You yourself have echoed the things that have been said about you and you know how people feel about you. What are you trying to do, confirm it? This is bad. I don't like it at all. And Representative Cleo Fields will be on the show in just a little bit. But before he comes on the show, Jennifer, do me a favor, please play that sound from President Trump about today's Supreme Court ruling, please. I want to go back to the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act. I know you said you haven't seen it. When did it come out, just now? No, it came out this morning. But basically very much narrows the Voting Rights act, which he considered a win for Republicans. I love it. But my question, this is a very good.

[Robert Reich]

We can end this news conference right now. I want to read it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

My question, Mr. President, is that some Republican governors have not responded in terms of what they're going to do. I guess early voting, for example, in Louisiana.

[Robert Reich]

Republican governors.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Republican governors.

[Robert Reich]

What about it?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Early voting begins Saturday there, for instance,

[Robert Reich]

should they redraw the map in the next couple?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I would. I mean, it depends. I mean, some states don't need to

[Robert Reich]

redraw and some do.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, I know what the concept of the world. I just haven't seen the result. You love it, huh? I love it. I love it. It's what you said, Fair enough. President Trump, Fair enough. But I'd like to know, to people who are black, to people who are white, to people who are Latino, they're Asian, they're Jewish, they're Catholic, the Episcopalian, whomever, if you respect and care about, are sensitive to black people in this country. A, how are you feel about this? How do you feel about this? And B, what you gonna do about it? Midterms are coming up, And we have to understand something here before I go to break, because I'm going to go to break after I say this. As disgusted as I am with this ruling, as alarmed as I am with it, as much as I blame Republicans and specifically President Trump and his administration for this stuff, don't think for one second that it escapes me how the negligence on the left contributed to this. You see, you remember Shelby county versus Holden in 2013. Y' all remember that? Remember what happened there, because it's important. Shelby county, that was the decision that removed the quote, unquote, pre clearance requirement federal approval before changing voting laws for certain states with histories of discrimination. It removed the preclearance requirement before this many district maps had to be proved in advance, but not after that, afterwards. It was after that ruling. Maps can be challenged only after they're implemented, which is a slower and harder process to reverse. Why do I bring that up? Because that happened when Obama was in office. Holder challenged it. Of course he lost. And we get that. But here's the biggest thing. Here's the biggest thing, and I'm gonna say this before I go to break. You know, with a 5, 4 majority in the court, you know what that gave us, even when there was a conservative majority, hope, because maybe, just maybe one vote could be swayed. When did that change? See, we respect her, but some of y' all revered Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You don't remember the story. You don't remember how she was approaching her 80s and she had health issues and Obama was in office and his administration practically begged her to retire. You don't remember the reports that highlighted that she refused to walk away because she wanted her, a woman to defy to select her successor because she assumed that Hillary Rodham Clinton was going to win the 2016 election. Obama was right there. He was a Democrat in office, would have selected a liberal to the courts and a justice on the Supreme Court who was a phenomenal and brilliant thinker, no doubt allowed her personal feelings and ego to get in the way and refused to walk away so he could select her successor. So we could never find ourselves with a 6:3 majority in the court. She passed away after Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the election. Trump was the president and was able to select her successor. And because of that, whether it's Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Comey Barrett and all of the bottom line is the 6:3 majority would not have happened had she allowed Obama to select her successor. But y' all never bring that up. And now here we are finding ourselves in a situation where the country is in clear chaos, more polarized than ever, more divided than ever, more volatile than people pre civil rights told me civil rights era was and things don't look to be getting any better. Why am I so pissed off? It's not just because of the insidious behavior, the insensitivity that's going on on the right towards us. It's because of the negligence on the left born of arrogance, assuming in a world where assumptions are the mothers of all fuckups. Now look at us. 86696 POTUS is the number to call up. That's 866-967-6887. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Back with your calls and Representative Cleo Fields in a minute. Game time is creeping up and you're still sitting there trying to figure out how you're gonna watch. The last thing you need is to sign up for yet another streaming service. You don't even want just to watch one game. That's where Sling steps in. With Sling, you call the shots. Want to watch that one big NBA matchup on ESPN? Get a one day pass starting at just 499. Want to catch an entire series of the NHL playoffs and TNT. Check out a seven day pass. And if you just can't get enough, Slings monthly packages give you even more options. We're at that point in the season where every game, every moment matters. Sling can make sure you're locked in for all of it without paying for a bunch of channels you don't care about. Watch the games you want when you want with no long term commitments. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com to learn more. That's sling.com every wireless service comes with a cost, right? Wrong. The TextNow app lets you do your thing for free. Get real talk, real text and 5G data for must have apps with no monthly bill. Need more data? Add it right from the app.

[Caller]

Done.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Go back to free. No long term contracts. No pressure, no surprises. Just wireless that works around you. TextNow we've got your back. Download TextNow in your app store today. Wireless plans require the purchase of a sim card. Visit textnow.com for terms and conditions. 31 minutes past hour. Number one, back here, the straight shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Let's get to a couple of phone calls before we have Representative Cleo Fields out of Louisiana on the call. Let's go to Nicholas in Washington, the nation's capital. You're live with Stephen. Is that the nation's capital? Is that the state of Washington, sir?

[Caller]

No, this is the state of Washington, Steven.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, yes, sir.

[Caller]

I just want to tell you that. Thank you. My second time calling in, and I called in before, I'm the cowboy fan with the beating star. And I called in because after you said, hey, if you're black or you're Latino and you're not furious, then you're not paying attention what's out there. And I agree. I'm a Latino and I just. I'm furious. I just feel like I'm powerless, though. You know, I don't have millions of dollars. I don't have a platform.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me say this to you. Let me say this to you real quick. You, not powerless. The reality of the situation is that that's how folks want us to feel. They want us to feel that we don't have any power, that our votes don't matter, that it's never counted or whatever. We just have to be smart about it, got to be strategic about it. We got to match fire with fire in a lot of different situations. I'm not speaking as a Republican or Democrat. I'm a registered independent, but I don't like shady nonsense. That's number one. And number two, I'm a proud black man. And I know what my ancestors went through to fight for our rights votes, to fight for us to have civil rights, to fight for you and others to have those civil rights as well. And it does seem to be a concerted effort to undermine things that have transpired historically. There is no doubt about that. So I'm very, very concerned about that. But in the same breath, don't ever feel powerless because you can make a difference as long as you're active and your mind is active and you go to the polls and you vote and you make sure you're paying attention to the issues that goes on in a democracy such as this. The there is always hope to change things around, no matter how bleak things may look from time to time. Don't ever forget that.

[Caller]

No, thank you. And my votes for you. I know you said that you don't want to do it because of your money, you know, And I understand. I wouldn't want to lose my money either. And I don't have anything that you have, but it's kind of like a Hollywood movie, man, when you're. That person doesn't have to do it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I got you.

[Caller]

But he does it for the greater good.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I hear you. I hear you. You got bills to pay. I work 30 years to make my money, but I tell you this much, every day, something happens. These people got me craving to get on a debate stage with them. They really, really do. I, I, I, I'm here standing up on my skin, itching for this. I ain't gonna lie about it. Beverly in New York, you're live with Stephen A. Beverly, good afternoon. Good evening. I'm sorry. How are you?

[Caller]

Good afternoon. Good, good. I know you got other calls, and I made two quick. You're absolutely right about Ginsburg. You failed to talk, refused to let.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Beverly, I'm going to interrupt you. I'm going to interrupt you and ask you to call back when your signal is clearer. It is horrible. I'm very, very sorry about it. Please call back and I'll put you on after we interview Representative Fields. Hakeem in Texas, you're live with Stephen A.

[Caller]

What's up, Stephen? First time caller, first time listening to you. Huge Laker and Cowboy fans. I got to get that out there. First.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right.

[Caller]

Second of all, second of all, as a African American male, I'm greatly disappointed about the ruling today. But one of the things I also think about, and it never gets discussed whether you watch any of these debates or anything, I don't think anybody ever talks about the current state, black America, meaning I don't see any polls asking how do black people feel as far as whether things are progressing, things are going back and so forth. You see no polls, you see no discussion.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, I wouldn't say the polls, Hakeem, but definitely it's discussed. And it's universally recognized that black people as a whole, the vast majority of black folks, think we're taking a step back because we see an attack and an assault. When you want to dictate what books we're reading, when you want to dictate our access to history, when we have a ruling that comes down, like today, where we feel like we're being marginalized and the potency of the Voting Rights act of 1965 is being compromised, trust me, we're talking about it. I don't think you to see a polls, but you don't have to, you know, the vast majority of African Americans in this country have a problem with it. They may feel that way. And I think that that's something that we have to pay attention to. The flip side to it, however, is that sometimes people are one issue. Most voters focused on one issue. The economy matters to some people, immigration, add us to another, pro choice, pro right, pro life matters to somebody else, stuff like that. And a lot of times there's not a plethora of issues that are being paid attention to and that may be what the issue is, a key.

[Caller]

Well, and Stephen, let me be more specific when I say it's not being talked about, it's not being talked about externally. When you and I get together, when we had a barbershop on with my boys, yes, that's all we talked about. But I'm talking about externally, externally, not just within the black community, but as you mentioned, if you're not Latino, if you're not Jewish or whoever else are not also upset about this as well. And that's what I mean by you

[Stephen A. Smith]

haven't, you haven't figured it out, my brother. You haven't figured it out. The election is not close enough yet. Every time the election goes close, that's when they start doing it. Prior to that, black folks are, you know, bottom of the food chain. It's just the truth. It's just the truth. Up next, Representative Cleo Fields out of Louisiana. Obviously, this directly impacts him. He's got a lot to say about this, no doubt, and I can't wait to talk to him. Honored and privileged to have him on as my next guest right here on Straight Shooter with yours truly. Back with Representative Cleo Fields in a minute. Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. feel the sensation of an AI work platform so flexible and intuitive it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. start for free. And finally, breathe. Breathe in. Feel the sense of calm that comes from having up to $300 in overdraft protection with Goto Bank. Now. Did you say $300? Yes. Now back to our breathing. So if I overspend my balance, Goto bank has my back up to $300. Yes. Can we breathe out now? Less worries, more zen. With over $300 in overdraft protection. Tap to open an account today. Eligible direct deposits and opt in required for overdraft protection fees. Terms and conditions apply. 40 minutes past hour number one back here on Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. It's my Honor and privilege to have my next guest on the show, U.S. representative for the great state of Louisiana's 6th congressional district, a position he assumed in January of 2025. He's had a long career in Louisiana politics, previously serving in Congress in the 1990s, spending several decades in the Louisiana State Senate, always as a member, of course, of the Democratic Party. Please welcome to the show for the first time Representative Cleo Fields out of Louisiana. Good evening, sir. How are you?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

It's good to be with you. Thank you, Stephen, for having me on the show. It's a pleasure to be with you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you so much. Let's get right to it. I mean, this morning, the supreme court, we all know, 63 majority Chief Justice Robin has called your district, quote, a snake that stretches more than 200 miles. Obviously, the state of Louisiana switched sides and argued against the. The very map that elected you. So I'm going to ask you plainly, do you accept that the way your seat was drawn was unconstitutional, constitutional, or do you believe six justices of the Supreme Court got it wrong?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Well, I mean, obviously, I think they got it wrong, but at the end of the day, it's a ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court of our land. You know, they absolutely got it wrong. There are people in Louisiana, you know, who had all types of hurdles in front of them in order to even register to vote. Years ago, you know, had literacy tests. You know, people would go to register to vote. They would say, state the preamble to the Constitution, you know, poll tax. I mean, we have had all types of obstacles in our way even after we got the constitutional right to vote. And then the Congress of the United States passed the Voting Rights act, which, you know, basically regulated states, said you can't have these types of laws to impair, you know, African Americans from participating in the political process. And then African Americans were, you know, beginning to be elected to office for the first time. And, you know, I totally disagree with the court. I mean, the court basically took the same rule and they used in the Holder case. They said that, you know, you cannot use the historical, you know, record, you know, for creating a district. You gotta show present discrimination. Well, there's not a single African American ever elected to Congress from the state of Louisiana from a majority white district. We've had several African Americans to run. You know, I mean, and. And that's recent history. So I. I just think the Supreme Court got it wrong. I mean, if you tell me, Stephen, you know, you know, if you got to jump, you gotta. I gotta jump. High. I can perhaps do that. If you tell me I gotta run faster, I can perhaps do that. But if you tell me I gotta be white to be a member of Congress from Louisiana, there's nothing I can do about that. I need a little, little help from my government. And unfortunately, the Supreme Court, you know, root against the district. But, you know, I've been here before. This is not my first rodeo. You know, every day I've served in Congress, there's been a lawsuit in the Supreme Court against the existence of this district.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Justice Kagan wrote in dissent that today's decision renders section 2 of the Voting Rights act, quote, all but a dead race letter. Do you agree with that? And if so, specifically, why?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, because basically, you know, if you don't have section two, they did away with Section five. If you don't have section two, you have nothing. You need a, a, a Voting Rights act, and you don't have it now. And I think she's right, because, you know, at the end of the day, you know, that was the, the object of the case. Do we have, you know, a Section two of the Voting Rights Act? Louisiana's case was drawn not solely based on race. I was in a legislature when it was created. You know, it was more based on politics and race. Was race an issue? Absolutely. You can't draw Section two, I mean, voting rights districts without taking race into account. And I think the support the Supreme Court just didn't get it right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What recourse do you have, sir, from here?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Well, considering today's rule, you know, I think the Congress, you know, that particularly the next Congress, the Congress is going to have, have to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. You know, the Congress makes the law, the Supreme Court just simply interpret it. And I think the Congress need to pass a Voting Rights act that is clear and unambiguous so that it won't leave any courts, you know, leave anything up to the interpretation of courts. There are states in this country that discriminate against blacks in voting patterns. I mean, there are black voters who vote for blacks, white voters who vote for whites, and black voters are in a minority. And at the end of the day, unless they're in the majority, they will never get elected to office. And this is much bigger than the congressional seat. This is about legislative seats, city council seats. Perhaps if you don't live in the southern part of our country, you don't have these problems to worry about. But there are a lot of states, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, all of these Southern States need a Voting Rights act that works and is incumbent upon Congress to pass one.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You alluded just a few seconds ago to The Shelby county versus Holder case going back to 2013, where pre clearance obviously was an issue that was addressed at that particular moment in time. Back then, conservatives had a 5, 4 majority, if I remember correctly. Obama was in office, Holder was your Attorney General, but in the same breath they had a 5, 4 majority. Obviously it got to 6, 3 once Trump got into office. And what Rudra Ginsburg passed away in 2020 along with other selections he had obviously made. I'm wondering what level of culpability, if any at all, would you attached to the Democratic Party for being in this situation. Was there negligence on anybody's part? Was it not taking its seriously enough? Was this not putting forth the due diligence and thinking something like this would never happen? Is there anything at all, sir, that you'd like to point out, if anything?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Well, I mean, I, I don't know, Stephen. A. I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, this climate today is just so partisan. And, you know, you, you know, you got a president that says, you know, I need five more seats in Texas. Call the governor of Texas and governor of Texas, then go right into full motion creating five additional four more in

[Stephen A. Smith]

Florida today, by the way. Yeah, four more in Florida today by.

[Representative Cleo Fields]

And, yeah, and it's just become a total, you know, political war. You got a Supreme Court that ruled today that you can gerrymander based on politics, but you can't do it based on race. Well, you got to take race into account when you're dealing with a voting rights case. And at the end of the day, the reason why we have a Voting Rights act to begin with is because blacks have been traditionally discriminated against, you know, at the voting box. And so it's, it's, it's a tough. I don't know if I would blame Democrats. You know, I blame, you know, you know, all of us. And we need to get more involved in politics. I heard some of your comments earlier today. I think people don't need to give up hope. I think people need to register to vote. I think people need to vote like they've never voted before. And this too shall pass. I mean, we can't back away. We got to get more involved. And I'm, you know, I'm, you know, like I'm true and blue. I actually went through this 33 years ago, so I know what it feels. Okay to have your seat taken, but you just got to be resilient, Fight, fight back.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One of the things that we do as a nation, I think that it's our default position to look at the president, and my attitude is, okay, you know what he is, you know how he thinks, you know what he's going to do, et cetera, et cetera. Last time I checked, folks in the House of Representatives, I'm talking about folks on the Republican side, folks in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, they're supposed to have a spine, they're supposed to stand up, they're supposed to make sure that they're willing to stand up to the president or what have you. And when you talk about what Congress needs to do, they still have power in the House and obviously to a larger degree in the Senate. What hope do you hold for change? You're somebody that's been around for quite a long time, very experienced. I could see the pain in your face. I know what this means to you. I can truly, truly appreciate where you're coming from. Looking at you the way that I am right now and being a black man, understanding this is really bad as far as I'm concerned. I'm wondering what level of hope you hold that this can be rectified somehow, some way, and if so, where does that hope come from?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Well, right now in this Congress, I'm caught between hope and expectations. I hope, but I don't expect, but the next Congress I have, I think my hope will meet its, its expectations. I think the next Congress, you know, I think Democrats will be in control and Democrats will, you know, I mean, there are three branches of government right now, you know, you would assume is only one, and that's the executive branch branch. You know, we need to have three branches of government and three branches that operate independent of one another. And I think you will have that at at least a legislative branch that's going to be independent come November. And I think you'll see some changes and people that hope will then start bringing, you know, moving into more of expectations.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Do the Democrats have a plan?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

I think they do.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, particularly as the midterm as well. I'm asking that in all, in all sincerity, because I'd like to know what it is in your estimation.

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Yes, we have a plan first. First plan we have is that, you know, get voters to the poll. We can't do polls. We can't, you know, overlook that. Voters need to really get to the polls and voice their concerns this election, this November. And when Democrats take control, there are a lot of things that Democrats will do, you know, on day one. I mean, we've cut Medicaid, you know, drastically, you know, over the past year and a half. We have to reach.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Isn't it about close. Isn't it about close to a trillion dollars that Medicaid has been cut?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

We have to restore those. That, that fund in my state in particular. I mean, my state is an expansion state. We got, you know, hundreds of thousands of people that will go off the rolls once this big ugly bill actually take effect. So that's a plan that the Democrats have. Democrats, we have a plan right now. And it's working. Not in the House, but it's working in the Senate on his SAVE act where we. Disenfranchising voters, taking people, women who have to show identification to register to vote, that's just totally asinine. Women who, you know, merit names, are different from their maiden name, they gotta go. Don't jump through three and four hoops in order to prove that they are who they are. You know, that's, that's a total case of disenfranchisement. I think the Democrats are going to have to be very serious on economic. They have to roll back all of these, these, these cuts in Medicaid and they have to protect some of the things that we are protecting today in the House of Representatives, rather, in the Senate, because the House has really rolled over and allowed this president to have his way every time. Every time and every day.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We've spoken last question to you. We've spoken. And I've been talking a lot about all the redistricting that's been going on, because obviously Texas today, it's Florida A few weeks ago, it was obviously Gavin Newsom. In California, it was Abigail Spanberger with Virginia. We've seen this on both sides of the aisle. I guess what I'm asking now is, as I look at this issue, the Republicans would make the argument that, you know what we're looking for a partisan advantage. That's fair gamesmanship. That's what we want to do. But if you are a black person in America today, obviously it goes far, far, far deeper than that. So if you had to answer the question, Representative Fields, as to why this has happened, how would you answer somebody that asks that question?

[Representative Cleo Fields]

I. I would say it's because of the climate. And I think the climate was set by the President. I think there are a lot of Republicans who are afraid to buck the president even today because they don't want to be primary at the. You know, I think that is the source of the problem, but, you know, we can fix it. You know, it's not too late. Come November, people need to go to the polls and they need to vote in record numbers. Now, there are some question as to what real impact this Supreme Court decision will have on the sixth Congressional District. You know, the six. You know, the people in Louisiana have already started voting. And I will take the position very little on this upcoming election because people have already voted by absentee ballot. People are going to the polls on Saturday to vote. Candidates are qualified, but it's going to have a tremendous impact two years from now. I would say a lot of this is caused by the. The attitude of the President of the United States, and I think it has trickled down into every state legislature across the country.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Representative Cleo fields from the 6th district of Louisiana, I wish I was speaking to you under better circumstances, but thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to join the show. I really, really appreciate it. And you're welcome back anytime, sir. Thank you so much.

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Thank you, Stephen. I appreciate you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No problem. Representative Cleo Fields right here with Straight On, Straight Shooter with George. Truly, Stephen. A SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. Let's get back to the phones real quick before I end this hour. Beverly in New York, you're back. I hope your signal is a lot better.

[Caller]

Go ahead, Beverly, can you hear me now?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, I can. Go ahead, please, real quick.

[Caller]

Okay. I agree with you on Ginsburg, except you left out the part where Mitch McConnell wouldn't even let Obama nominate Garland. That. That set the stage. He said it was too close to an election. Let the people decide, but then he let Trump.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, you talking about Garland? You're talking about Garland? Yes, ma'.

[Robert Reich]

Am.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, ma'. Am. Beverly. No, I'm not saying you're wrong about that, because you're absolutely right about that. I get that part. But Mitch McConnell is the opposition, so he's not gonna do Obama any favors. That's not the crime. The crime was Ruth Bader. Ginsburg was a Democrat. She was a liberal justice. Okay? And Obama was a liberal in the White House. And the administration wanted her to retire to ensure that. That they could put another liberal on the court because obviously her health was compromised and she was climbing up there in age. And according to numerous reports, she did not want to give that seat up and retire so he could elect somebody because she assumed Hillary was gonna win, and she wanted a woman to choose her successor respectfully. That was a justice thinking about herself and not the country. And I think that that is something that needed to be said and has not been mentioned. I have a real problem with that. To assume that somebody is going to win with such an important election as was 2016, and to not allow Obama to make that call before then. Because you wanted a woman to choose your successor. Beverly, I just think she dropped the ball.

[Caller]

I agree 100%. But you do agree that Mitch McConnell did, then he turned around and let Trump nominate months before an election.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, no, of course I agree with you. I'm just saying he's the opposition. He wasn't going to do Obama any favors.

[Caller]

Duh.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Mike Johnson's not going to do. He's not, you know, they weren't willing. They're not going to do a liberal any favor. You know that. That's the polarization that exists in our country today. So as unfortunate as it is, it's also predictable. I'm saying the crime was when you have a liberal in the White House and a liberal justice, and a liberal justice wants his successor to make. To.

[Representative Cleo Fields]

To. To.

[Stephen A. Smith]

To choose her successor as opposed to letting him do it. I mean, that reeked of arrogance. To assume that Hillary Rodham Clinton was going to win. Look at what that's done. That's made our court six, three majority instead of five.

[Robert Reich]

Four.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's a problem. It's a problem, Beverly.

[Caller]

You're right 100%. Can I say one other quick thing real quick?

[Stephen A. Smith]

You got 30 seconds.

[Caller]

Biden is responsible too, because he should have said he wasn't gonna run again. Let them have primaries to pick a person.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Totally true.

[Caller]

Instead of just nominating Harris. There was no way they were gonna vote for her. A woman and black. No way. Not gonna happen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Beverly. Beverly. I gotta go. You're absolutely right. Biden swore he would be a transitional president, he would serve one term and went against it and stuck around too long, embarrassed himself on the stage during the debate. And ultimately, when he gave it up running for the second term, it was too late for a primary. You're absolutely right. It's facts. I'm not here to dispute it. Robert Reich up next right here with Stephen, a straight shooter in the house, our number two. Up next. Don't go away. Book a loved by guest property with VRBO and you get a top rated vacation rental that's loved for all the right reasons, like being in a great location or having great amenities.

[Caller]

Ugh.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I love my VRBO for the view. Good reason. Ooh. And the sauna Sweet. Another good reason. And that it's one of those good saunas with the hot rock thing. Ugh. Love a good hot rock thing. Fancy. That's also a reason. Don't worry about surprises. Book a verbo you'll love with the Love by guest filter if you know you verbo. This is a Monday.com ad, the same Monday.com designed for every team. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one the same Monday.com with an easy and intuitive setup to Monday.com and try it for free. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Welcome to album number two. A straight shooter with yours shooter Stephen A. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124, 866 96. POTUS is always the number called this 86696, POTUS. But I'll get to the phone calls in just a little while. It'll have to be after I talk to my next guest. And I've been waiting to talk to him for a while. He's a professor, an author, a lawyer and a political commentator who worked in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and served as Secretary of Labor in President Bill Clinton's cabinet from 1993 to 1997. He is currently a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Please welcome for the first time Straight Shooter with yours truly, Mr. Robert Reich. He's here with me right now. Good. Good evening, sir. How you doing? How's everything?

[Robert Reich]

I'm. I'm just great, Stephen. Thank you for having me on. I hope. Now, is it Stephen or is it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's Stephen. It's Stevenson.

[Robert Reich]

Okay. Well, you could please call me Bob.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, no problem, Bob. Thank you so much. Let's get right to it. Your thoughts about today's Supreme Court ruling striking down a voting map in Louisiana. Before we get into anything else, when you heard the news about that, what were your thoughts, sir?

[Robert Reich]

I was upset, honestly. I mean, people have worked so hard over the years for voting rights to make sure that every American has an equal chance of being heard. And there is so much, still so much prejudice and discrimination. You know, I think it's very, very important that these states not be allowed to dilute the voting power of minorities. And I say that as somebody who has argued before the Supreme Court, as somebody who was in the civil rights movement, as somebody who lost a very good friend trying to register voters in Mississippi in 1964. I think it's a setback today, Stephen. Honestly,

[Stephen A. Smith]

Bob, you posted two interesting quotes on X today. One was, quote, a Supreme Court so fundamentally hostile to the rights of minority voters places the court at odds with democracy itself. This is the legacy of Chief Justice John Roberts. I opposed his nomination back in 2005, and I stand by that. But then you said the second quote that I wanted to ask you about. Reminder that any political party trying to make it harder to vote is sending a clear message they can't win on their ideas alone. What do you say to critics or to anybody that's just standing from a bird's eye view, not taking a side one way or the other that says the Democrats and the Republicans are doing the same thing when it comes to issues of redistricting and gerrymandering?

[Robert Reich]

Well, I tell them that it's not the same thing, that in California, for example, the only reason that California, and I've talked to a lot of the officials in California, the only reason California, and I'm a resident of California, redistricted to get four additional Democratic seats is because Texas redistricted to get four additional Republican seats. In other words, what you want to do, I think if you want to preserve democracy, is take away any incentive on the part of states to indulge in this kind of, well, it's, it's gerrymandering that that is really puts one side at the advantage of another. What the states, what the blue states, the Democratic states have been doing is trying to neutralize the advantages that the Republican states are creating as a detriment to further gerrymandering. I think that that's perfectly appropriate.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, but some would argue that that's happening now. But they've been engaging in redistricting and gerrymandering for years. Both sides of the aisle, they're, they're not, neither side is new to this. It's been going on for decades now. What do you say to that?

[Robert Reich]

Well, I'd say that's wrong. I mean, I used to be chairman of a group, a citizens group called Common Cause, and I went around the country arguing against partisan gerrymandering. I argued that what states really do need to do is to give the mapping of districts to independent commissions. And I still believe that. But how are you going to deal with a situation that we found ourselves in after Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, at Trump's insistence, gerrymandered in the middle of a, you know, a 10 year census process where you are not supposed to gerrymander at all. He gerrymandered and redistricted solely for the. And obviously for the purpose of creating more Republican seats. Well, what Democrats have to do is have a detriment, a deterrent to that. They've got to stop Republican states from doing that and stop Republican states from thinking that they can benefit from doing that. So even though I'm against gerrymandering, Stephen, I've spent part of my life against it and out in the fields trying to persuade states not to do it. You've got to deter Republican states from doing it. And I really think the only way of really deterring them is to take away any advantage.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Take away any advantage? What do you mean by that? Take away any advantage how?

[Robert Reich]

By essentially saying to Republican states, if you gerrymander, we Democratic states are going to do exactly the same, but only to the extent that you've done it. That is, we're going to take away any advantage, any additional votes that you think you're getting. So you have no longer have an incentive to engage in gerrymandering. I think that's the appropriate response. Take away the incentive.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me lean towards illegal, you know, the immigration issue, whether legal or illegal, but the immigration issue percolating throughout the country and has been since Trump has returned to office, obviously, because there are a lot of folks on the right that lean towards the, that they say Biden let millions upon millions of people into this country illegally. And when you look at the Census Bureau report and whatever, you look at the census rather, and you see millions of folks coming into the country, census counts the total population, not just those who are eligible voters. And that Democrats wanted this because that's how they wanted to gain an advantage. So the only way we can combat that is making sure that we redistrict, that we gerrymander, that we put ourselves in a position where we can gain some kind of advantage. And that's what they're saying has instigated this whole game in this particular moment, at this particular moment in time. To that you say what?

[Robert Reich]

That there's very little evidence that people who are not entitled to vote in elections are actually doing that. I mean, that's what Trump has been saying for the last 10 years, that you have all of these people voting who have no right to vote, who are immigrants, who are not citizens, but then you ask them to come up with evidence, come up with numbers. Where is the evidence? Where's the evidence that all these people who are not citizens are voting and they can't do it? There is no evidence. And that to me, that's the nub of the charade that Trump has been perpetrating on America. I mean, he said that he won the 2020 election. Well, where is the evidence that he'd won the 2020 election? He said that in the 2016 election there were all these people, millions of immigrants who voted, who have no, should never have voted. Where is his evidence? There has never been. He started commissions. He's tried to find evidence. There's no evidence, Stephen, of this happening. This is all a concoction by Donald Trump. Everything about immigrants illegally voting.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Robert Reich, professor of Public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Political commentator, author, lawyer, professor, worked under administrations under President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Served as Secretary of Labor in President Bill Clinton's cabinet from 1993 to 1997. He's right here with Stephen, A on Straight Shooter. You know, for years you warned about the growing gap between the wealthy and working class Americans. What concerns you most about where the country is headed economically right now, sir?

[Robert Reich]

Well, I think that if you are working class, you are suffering. Not only are your wages going nowhere, but the prices of everything you're buying are going up because of Trump's tariffs and also because of Trump's war and the price of gas and the price of everything that related to the price of gas is going up. So I think working class people have taken it on the chin. And this is not new. This has been going on for 40 years. And when you have a huge gap between the people who are richer than they have ever been in world history at the top and average working people who are struggling, well, what's going to happen? How can your economy or your politics continue? People are angry, they're frustrated. They're going to elect somebody who they feel is going to be on their side. Trump is not on their side. He gave a huge tax break to the rich, but, you know, he gives the impression that he's on their side. And if you don't have anybody who's on their side, then you're going to have more and more upheaval.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But Bob, here's the deal. Many working class Americans across multiple groups, by the way, have appeared to move towards Donald Trump politically. Is it possible they're seeing something your analysis might be missing, sir?

[Robert Reich]

I don't think they are moving toward Trump any longer. I think they were. And partly the reason they were and partly the reason they did in 2016 and 2024 is because the Democrats didn't put up somebody who was Tough enough who was a fighter for average working people. And I think average working people saw that and they said, well, we'll take Trump instead. But over the last several months, as this war has dragged on and as prices have gone up, remember Trump said two things to average working people in 2024. He said, number one, I'm going to bring prices down. Number two, I'm not going to get involved in foreign wars, never ending wars in the Middle East. And he did both of them. He prices went up and he's been involved in a never ending war in the Middle East. And that's why you see polls shifting. So many people, so many independents, so many working class people are now saying no to Trump. I mean, every special election we've had since Trump came back in this second term has either been won by Democrats or the Democrat who won really went far exceeded expectations and far exceeded how Kamala Harris did in that district. So I think Americans are catching on, honestly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yet you talked about that and you said that they didn't have somebody strong enough to go against them before. Who's the person that you see that strong enough in the Democratic Party to go against them now? What am I missing?

[Robert Reich]

You think, you think, you think I'm going to tell you who I'm in favor of?

[Stephen A. Smith]

You gonna keep that from me, sir? You're not gonna tell me that, sir.

[Robert Reich]

I'm not gonna endorse anybody. But I'll tell you, let me see it quite seriously. I think there are some very, very good potential Democratic candidates who are real fighters. For example, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, I think is a real, real fighter. I think the governors of Kentucky and the governor of Pennsylvania are, are fighters. They are Democrats. There are many out there. And I think that the Democratic Party has a very good chance if it really understands that its entire purpose is to. Historically, its purpose has been to lift up working people, lift up the poor, lift up people who need help and need lifting up in this society. If Democrats understand that and put up a real fighter, they're going to win.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You've also spoken about concentrated power and elite influence in America. You've also spent decades in government, academia, and obviously media. What do you say to listeners who see you as part of that same elite system you criticize? I can imagine people watching right now, and you got somebody on the right that's going to say something like that about Robert Reich. What do you say to that?

[Robert Reich]

Well, I would say, you know, you're right. I'm privileged. I'm not poor and I came from a working class family. But I never really experienced poverty, but I didn't get any handouts. I mean, I worked very, very hard. I continue to work very hard. And by the way, I think being a professor is an honorable profession. Being a teacher is an honorable profession. If people want to blame me for doing that, they can blame me. If they want to blame me for my politics, tell me what they don't like about it. Because I try to be commonsensical. I try not to be dogmatic or partisan. Dogmatic. I try to be. When I was labor secretary, I tried to help working people. I tried to keep them safer. I tried to make sure that their jobs were good jobs. I tried to make sure that they were not ripped off by corporations, by employers who didn't pay them or refused to pay them, or big corporations that defrauded them. I mean, this is not a matter of left versus right. This is a matter of what, doing what, what is the right thing to do?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right, but I'm, I'm paying attention and I'm not refuting it, but I'm just, my, my, my antennas are getting raised because you've repeatedly warned about a recession, declining US Dominance, a rise in oligarchy, but the US dollar, I mean, remains the world's reserve currency. That hasn't changed and the economy hasn't collapsed. So at what point, point, if any at all, do you reassess the level of alarm in your analysis, if at all?

[Robert Reich]

Well, I, I will reassess it when the facts suggest that I am wrong. But I think that actually before the 2008 financial crisis, I warned everybody, you know, Wall street is gambling with your money. And unfortunately, I was right. And before the current, you know, inflation that we have, the price inflation, I warn people that Donald Trump and his tariffs are bad for you. They're going to cause higher prices. And people said, you know, I was being an alarmist. Well, I'm not being an alarmist. It's actually happening. People are in very bad shape in this country. So I, you know, I think that if the facts suggest I'm wrong, I change my mind. I hope everybody does if they confront facts. But, but I, I've been unfortunately, in terms of talking about the dangers ahead economically, I've been unfortunately right. Stephen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Robert Reich, right here with Stephen A Straight shooter with Stephen. A. Just a couple of questions sub before I let you go and thank you so much for your time. You write a daily Substack newsletter and one essay was titled what you you can do now. The 10 most important ways to resist. Now, I'd like you to share how Americans can resist. We've got it up on the screen right there. You know, number one, protect the decent and hardworking members of your communities who are most vulnerable, along with various others. Just enlighten my audience about the 10 most important ways to resist right now.

[Robert Reich]

Well, I think protecting the vulnerable is very, very important. When I say vulnerable, I think people who are powerless, people who are paying more, as we just talked about, people whose lives are in danger from this administration, people who are minorities, people who may have different, you know, LGBTQ people who are not popular very often in this administration in this climate. I think protecting the vulnerable is a big deal and very, very important. And we all have a responsibility. If we hear bigotry, we have a responsibility to stand up to bigotry. I think it's also, and I say among these 10 things, you know, it's important for people to, if they don't like what's going on, call their member of Congress, make sure they're a member of Congress. The senators and their members of Congress, their representatives know what you feel. A lot of people don't even bother. It's very important to vote. I mean, people say, oh, I don't want to. You know, my vote doesn't count. It is important. It does count. If you don't like what certain companies are doing, well, I think it's important to boycott them. I, I happen personally to think that Amazon is a bad company. I think the same. I, I feel the same way about, you know, because, well, because it has monopolized more and more of its market. It has used its market power to keep prices high. When other companies advertising or trying to sell their goods on Amazon, post lower prices elsewhere, Amazon tells them, you better raise your prices or we're going to drop you from our list of people of organizations who you can buy from. I think that that kind of behavior, not only does it raise consumer prices unnecessarily, but it's irresponsible. It uses corporate power irresponsibly. It abuses corporate power. So among the 10 things I talk about, what people can do is boycott. You know, use your power. You are powerful. Not just as a voter, you're also powerful as a consumer. Use that power.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Want to read a statement to you that former President Barack Obama just put out? I'm sure you've seen it. You may have seen it already, but just in case you haven't, getting back to today's Supreme Court decision, today's Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the vote and power of racial minorities, so long as they do it under the guise of partisanship rather than explicit racial bias. And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against minority against majority overreach. The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that would only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers, not just in the upcoming midterms or in high profile races, but in every election, in every level. I agree with that statement. In terms of him advocating and pushing for us to go to the polls and understanding the importance of our vote counting, is there anything that you'd like to add to what Barack Obama said?

[Robert Reich]

You know, I think he said it well, and that is that voting and voting in large numbers and making sure your vote counts is the key way to effectively overcome these barriers. And the Supreme Court, and I gotta say, I have argued before the Supreme Court, I understand the Supreme Court, I respect the Supreme Court, but the current Court is not on the side of average people, average working people, average black people, average people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is it different than conservative courts of the past? Is it different than conservative courts of the past?

[Robert Reich]

I think that it is comparable to the conservative court we had in the early 1930s, which struck down a lot of New Deal legislation. If I had been alive, I'm very old, but if I had been alive, then I would have been opposed to that court as well. I argued against in congressional hearings when John Roberts was being nominated for the Chief justice of the Supreme Court. I argued against putting him in charge of the Supreme Court because I didn't. Because I thought his values were way to the right of most Americans, much more conservative than most Americans. You want a Chief justice who is in the mainstream of America. You want a Chief justice who cares about how the public views the Supreme Court. And this Chief Justice John Roberts fails on both those grounds.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Before I let you get on out of here, three real policies, not theories, but three real policies. I'd like you to give three concrete policies that a centrist Democrat and a moderate Republican could pass in the next Congress to actually reduce inequality in your eyes. Could you come up with three? I'm sure you can.

[Robert Reich]

Well, I can come up with more than three, but if you're going to limit.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm sure you can.

[Robert Reich]

Number one, I would say profit sharing. You know, if you're a profitable corporation, you ought to be sharing your profits with your employees, not just your investors, not just your shareholders, your workers. Your workers, you know, created those profits. If you're a profitable corporation, there ought to be profit sharing. Number two, get big money out of politics. You know, it just distorts everything. And when we have these, these billionaires who are pouring huge amounts of money into politics, we are seeing political outcomes, not surprisingly, that reflects their values, not the values of average working people. And number three, make it easier for people to vote. I mean, we should have voting on. We should make Election Day a holiday so people don't have to take time out from work and they can vote. And that promotes our democracy.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Robert Reich, really appreciate your time, sir. Thank you for joining the show. All the best to you, man. And thank you so much. By the way, you talked about this war before I let you go. Do you see it ending anytime soon, this war with Iran?

[Robert Reich]

I don't see it anytime soon because I think that the Strait of Hormuz is going to be blocked by Iran, and there is almost nothing that the Trump administration is able to do about it. Why they didn't see it before they went to war with Iran, I don't know. I mean, in the Clinton administration, I was in rooms where people were debating what to do about Iran. And the first thing that somebody would say, I mean, the first thing they'd say is, be careful, beware the Strait of Hormuz. Let's not give them the opportunity to block that. And I can't. I just. It just amazes me that this administration went to war without considering that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is this Trump or is this Bibi Netanyahu pulling the strings, or is this all about Trump?

[Robert Reich]

I think it's both Trump and Netanyahu. Netanyahu got Trump into this war. Netanyahu wants to continue the war. Netanyahu, I think, is. Is particularly responsible. But Trump is obviously responsible. Trump is the President of the United States. He's the commander in chief. He pulled us into the war. He didn't even. He didn't even consult with Congress. He didn't consult with our allies. He didn't consult with anybody. He just did it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Robert Reich, appreciate the time, sir. Thank you.

[Caller]

Thank you.

[Robert Reich]

Thanks for having me on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Take care of yourself. Absolutely. Professor Robert Reich, right here with yours truly. Straight shooter with Stephen A. You heard what he had to say. You heard the issues we tackled. You Heard what I had to say. We're gonna spend the rest of the show, me and you, the caller up next. Don't go away. You're listening live. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with more in a minute. 32 minutes past hour. Number two back here, space Shooter with yours truly. Let's go to the phones. Y' all heard what everybody else had to say. Let's get to what you have to say. Let's go to Ken in California. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Ken? How are you?

[Caller]

What's going on? My brother, I got to say, but the last guy, the last guy you had, Robert Reich, what good thing you're right. What good thing he had to say about Trump. Right? One thing for sure, you supposed to look at the examples people set forth. Those Democrats ain't, for the last four years, ain't never did anything good for the country at all. Just look it up. Just look it up. You know, and then you bring, you spoke about Obama and about the Supreme Court. Only way, only way Obama's health care got through because another Trumper, McCain, voted it down.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, hold on, hold on, Ken. Hold on, Ken. The only reason I brought Obama up was because I was talking about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That's it. I didn't say anything else about Obama in the Supreme Court. I brought up Obama because of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

[Caller]

But he turned around. He mentioned about the Supreme Court and what they had to lay down and which ruled the law. But he didn't say anything about when Supreme Court was ruling for the, when they were trying to take him to the Supreme Court and say, hey, this is not, you know, this is not for the people. He lied. He fell out. A lie. And the speaker, hold it up. He didn't say anything then. Yeah, the Democrats are terrible for the country. Terrible.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Listen, I'm not pleased with what I see from them. I've said that on many, many occasions. But it's not like the Republicans are doing anything better. For example, when you talk about, you talk about health care being addressed. Listen, I don't like a shutdown happening. You understand? I don't like our health care compromise or whatever. But the Republicans been talking for years about doing something about health care. Where's the plan? You know, a lot of times, again, what I'm trying to get away from is the partisanship. And let's speak, let's speak facts. And if we know, we know. If we don't know, we don't know. And I'm certainly Not challenging your knowledge, Ken, because you sound very knowledgeable. But what I'm trying to say is let's, let's, let's stick with the knowledge and not the bias, because the reality of the situation is that you can point on both sides of the aisle stuff where they're engaging in dereliction of duties, they're not doing the damn things that they're supposed to do, and the American people are suffering because of it. Let's not act like everything they want to do, do is right and it's not harmful to the country as well. Like, for example, once again, when you have shutdowns, where's your plan? What the hell did you do? When you talk about health care and you're talking about 22 to 24 million people all of a sudden not having health care, how do you plan to address those kind of things? What is your plan? There are many, many occasions where we haven't heard a saleable plan from them. And that's part of the problem.

[Caller]

Stephen A. They did have a plan. They say the American people should keep their money and go do what they want to do with their money to go get.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And you, and you, and you really, really think that's a plan because first of all, most American people don't have enough money with the health care bills that you could incur, number one. And number two, you're gonna really, really leave it to their advice. I'm all about free market, don't get me wrong. But you want some kind of safety net. You don't want to just leave people to their own devices because it'll be absolute chaos in this country. You, you know that, Ken.

[Caller]

Okay, well, right now we do have some sort of a safety net for simple fact that you can go for an example, I'm out here in California, they got Medicare. Medicare that's giving to illegals out here, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, you know, and I, and I don't support that. I don't, I don't, I don't. Medical is what it's called. Medical is what's called. I don't support that. I don't support what they've been doing in California at all. And neither should. And neither do you. You know that. You know, it's bad and they have to do something different. No wonder they in so much damn debt in the billions. No matter. So much money is missing, ain't accounted for. There's no, don't even get me started with what's going on in California. So I get where you're coming from. But I appreciate the call, Ken. I do understand your perspective and some of your points are valid. No doubt about it. Thank you for the call. Let's go to Adam in Georgia. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Adam? How are you? Bye, Adam. Take it easy. Eric in Virginia, you're live with Stephen A. What's going on, Eric?

[Caller]

Hey, how's it going? Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right. I've had better days. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Oh, wait, ain't that true? I wanted to go on a topic about toning down the political rhetoric.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Caller]

From the Democratic perspective.

[Representative Cleo Fields]

Okay.

[Caller]

Even to start from the Democratic. The rhetoric from the Democratic Party doesn't represent the people at whatsoever.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Caller]

If we're talking about how they speak on certain issues, like foreign policy, we're talking about a 9010 issue. When it comes to the terms of Israel, the Israel.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You can't say that definitively. Don't do that. You can't say 90 10. You don't know that.

[Caller]

You do. Look at the survey. It is. Democrats are leaning 90, 10, 9010 on the issue.

[Stephen A. Smith]

On the issue of Israel.

[Caller]

On the issue of Israel versus Gaza, the sympathies with God.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Got it. Now, I thought you talked about it, warning around and stuff like that. I didn't know you talked about gossip, but go ahead, go ahead.

[Caller]

Yeah, but also with the war of Iran, that's not a popular war whatsoever.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, of course it's not a popular. I just want to think it's 90 to 10, but definitely Gaza, considering the displacement.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Of folks and what have you. And you know, some people have called it genocide and you have them folk coming out and trying to defend it and saying it's not genocide. It doesn't meet the definition of genocide. But people don't want to hear that people being displaced, their homes, there's bombs all over the place. No doubt about that. You're absolutely right. A lot of people is very, very unpopular with the American people. No doubt about that.

[Caller]

And so the rhetoric that the Democrats are not even exposing that from the people itself. It's. Yes. We had one centrist Democrat who went to go and try to attack the President of the United States and the White House Correspondents Dinner. But we have actual congresspeople who are like Randy Fine, for example, who compared Muslim people to dogs. Or you have J.D. donald Trump, who's also on stage saying that Haitian Americans are eating cats and dogs. Like we're talking about rhetoric. And there's not even a close situation where.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. You can't have it both ways. You can't bring up the polls when it comes to the war in Gaza, the war with Iran, and then ignore what the polls were saying when it has pointed to right wing extremism over the last, over the last decade and a half until the last year and now there's left wing extremism going on. That's what the polls say.

[Caller]

And when you say left wing extremism, what do you mean?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm not, I'm. Me personally. It's not, it's nothing that I mean, I'm just talking about what I read, just like you talked about it. I'm not getting specific like that. I'm just simply saying that's what they're saying.

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, of course. But when we're talking about the extremists, the extremist rhetoric coming from whatever sides, both sides, whatsoever. Yes, you have Democrats, people on my side who will say that violent things about Benjamin, Danny, I might be a victim. I might be one of those people as well. But you also, you also got people like in the Republican Party who could say that trans people are not people or they're beneath people there. Got. This is not even on equate. It's not even on equal grounds on what the rhetoric that's coming from the right wing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, I just, I just think, I just think respectfully, that's a matter of opinion, Eric. I mean, I'm not even saying I disagree with you. I'm simply saying it's easy to disagree with you if you want to, because it's a perspective and an opinion as opposed to being born. In fact, I think that the president at the presidency is a state position. And the rhetoric that comes out of his mouth instigates a lot of stuff. And I think it's deplorable. And I think that how he acts is beneath the presidency most of the time. It's disgraceful. The flip side to it, however, is that having said all of that, the rhetoric that comes from the left is definitely a bit extreme as well. I can't stand MAGA or the extreme progressive left. I'm a centrist. I'm fiscally conservative. I lean left on social issues, but I'm relatively a centrist. I believe in negotiating and going across the aisle to talk. Why is that? Because I think that when you show the propensity to do that, it calms the waters because you're not on one polar opposite side from the other saying that Armageddon and doom is inevitable because you didn't get your way. When you're a centrist, your mindset is everything is there to be worked out for the betterment and on behalf of the American people. And as a result, that's why you see the polls showing anywhere from 45 to 60% of people are more than ever defining themselves as independent because they don't like what they're seeing from either side. Because there's too much of a blame game going on with erratic, which eradicates culpable and responsibility to do what you're supposed to do on your own as a decent American citizen. I think that's what's going on here and that's what needs to be said, y'.

[Caller]

All. Yeah, you mentioned that the Democrat Party, you mentioned the violent rhetoric from the progressive side of the Democratic Party. I would argue that the centrists, the centrists of the Democrat Party spend most majority of their time punching left, as in attacking aoc, attacking Ilhan Omar.

[Stephen A. Smith]

There's a reason for that. There's a reason for that. I'm glad you brought that up, Eric. Do you know why that happens?

[Caller]

Why does it happen?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Because they lost. You're not talking about the side that won because whatever they needed to do got done for them to win. Of course, I could lament things about Trump or Mike Johnson or Jim Jordan and others and the things that they have said throughout the years. I can do that. But the fact of the matter is they got a constituency and a voting block out there and supporters out there who went to the polls and got it done for them. The reason why you have centrists like myself and others pointing a finger at the left is with saying, yo, it didn't work. Do a new plan. Get it done. Eric, I cover sports. If I see you going out there and turning the ball over, I'm a bench your ass. If you're missing too many jump shots, if you're missing dunks, if you're not playing defense, I'm going to bench you. I'm going to find somebody else to put in or I'm going to develop a new strategy with the same personnel on the floor to correct the error of my ways so I can win. People like you respectfully are focused on the fact that they're being called out and you're not listening to the why. The why, why is you're lost. And based on the direction that you're going in, you're probably going to lose again. We're telling you what we're telling you because we're trying to help you win. The other side won, so it ain't but so much to tell them. You could complain about them, but it ain't but so much to tell them because they won. The left lost. So when you're getting on them, you're getting on them to say, yo, let me correct the error of your ways so you'll know not to mess up again and you'll have a better chance in the midterms. 86696 POTUS is the number to call up this 866-96-POTUS. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with your calls to close out the show in a. My name is Rich from Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania. The many moments that have led me to become so disgusted with the state of our country. But now on Facebook, social media sites that support Trump are quickly deleting any opposing arguments, even when confirmed facts give evidence to those arguments. Yet these same sites allow the most vile and disgusting posts about Democrats and liberals and people who refuse to believe that Trump is the second coming. We cannot agree to disagree respectfully anymore. It is filtered down from the top to the masses. I find this to be tragic on top of everything else that I think he's doing wrong for our country.

[Robert Reich]

Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I hear you loud and clear, Rich. Hear you loud and clear, as did everybody. Anybody that wants to leave a voicemail message, head to SiriusXM.com Get Serious. That's SiriusXM.com Get Serious. To vent, to express yourself. If you can't catch me directly back to the phone, back to the phones we go. I'm gonna keep the calls relatively quick because we only got about eight minutes left. So I'm gonna keep the calls relatively quickly. Relatively quick. And that's just what I'm going to do. Let's go to Jim in Colorado. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Jim? How are you?

[Caller]

I can't even believe I'm talking to you. But anyway, go ahead.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You are.

[Caller]

You, you. I love listening to you. I'm in rural Colorado. We got like, I'm a con. I'm a builder, construction worker, guy, retired. Anyway, you've got, you're talking to the masses here. You got to get Obama on, man. You gotta get the guy on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I've been pursuing, I've been, I've been, been pursuing Obama for a year. The bottom line is he hasn't come yet. And to be honest with you, you know what? I think that some people have hesitancy in asking real questions, answering Real questions. Gavin Newsom has been invited for a long time. Obama has been invited for a long time. Kamala Harris was vitted before the election and after. The list goes on and on. I'm going to do what I do, but I'm not going to sit up here on a, on. I'm going to be respectful and I'm going to ask questions and I'm going to let them answer. It's going to be unedited or whatever. But I'm not going to fawn over people and avoid asking them the questions that the American people want to know answers to. I'm not going to do that.

[Caller]

I love it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Appreciate the call. Thank you so much. Greg in Michigan, you're live with Stephen. A real quick. Go ahead, Greg.

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen, a Mr. Positive. Great show as always.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thanks.

[Caller]

Oh God, you're fantastic. I gotta tell you. Boom shakalaka. And real quick, Jimmy Kimmel, was he out of line?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm not going to classify that. That's my colleague at the same company that I work for. What I will tell you is this, and I'll say this to all of these comedians, late night and beyond. Okay. Did I think it was a joke in poor taste? Yes. But a lot of comedians make jokes in poor taste and I think that it's a problem when the president is trying to get somebody fired. I think that's a bit extreme and I think it's wrong. Having said all of that, I want to say this one last point, Greg, to all the comedians out there. You know, once upon a time, if you were an equal opportunity offender, that's all you needed to remember. The issue is not with the offense. The issue is with the excessive targeting of the president in office. Get everybody, get everybody. Get the congressional figure certificate. Get anybody that's popular, that's in politics and make sure that it's not directed towards one person all the time. And you'd get away with a hell of a lot more than people seem to be getting away with in this day and age when it comes to President Trump. But I do think that the president is thin skinned, he's petty, he's vindictive and you know, and, and he's obviously after Jimmy Kimmel just like he was after Stephen Colbert. Two guys that are legends in this business. He insults them constantly and he's done it for years. And for him to turn around and want people fired, no matter what you think about how tasteless Jimmy Kimmel's joke was, I find that unfortunate. I'm not saying it's a joke I would have made. I'm not saying Jimmy Kimmel was right to do it. I'm saying the comedians need to be equal opportunity offenders and in the same breath the president needs to have thicker skin and stop being so damn petty. That's what I think. I gotta go. Greg, I appreciate the call, man. Thank you so much. Adam in Georgia. Go ahead, Adam.

[Caller]

Hey, Steven. So I just wanted to address the gerrymandering right now. So the stated tech the state of Texas gained 2.6 million people since April of 2020, where the state of California actually lost people and they gained over 700,000 back, but they were all migrants. That's how they've been repopulating the state. Same thing. So like the state of Virginia, you know, the population has basically stayed plateau. So do you think it's different for states to redraw a map when a congressional member is only supposed to have 760 constituents? So when you have a massive influx like Texas did, which was unheard of, that was why they redrew their map. Do you think that has any kind of play in the effect versus saying oh well, Trump told him to do it just as a political tactic?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't know. I really don't know the answer to that question. I'd have to give it some thought. I haven't given it a second thought until you just brought it up. I'd have to think about it. I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question. I would imagine so, but I really, really don't know. But Adam, thanks for the call. I'll think about that and I'll answer it better next week. Week T Love in Pennsylvania real quick. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, bro?

[Caller]

Yeah, hey brother. Well, I guess I better be quick. What I have to say is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, go ahead and say your piece, man. Go ahead and say your PC love.

[Caller]

Okay, okay, okay, Listen. I grew up as my father was a Democrat and watching him, you know, you emulate your dad. So I became a Democrat at that point. It was the party of the civil rights movement was heavy and that was the party that you followed. If you were really into civil rights thing now going further and moving into this time of day, it bothers me. It bothers me with the Democrats and the Republicans. I would not fall on a sword for either one of them.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Neither would I.

[Caller]

Some point in time you gotta, you have to make up your mind, okay, based on how you live and how you feel and not just follow somebody because Somebody else followed them or somebody love. You have to learn how to make up your own mind about this. You gotta look at things on both. There's things good on one side, there's things good on another side, there's things bad, vice versa. But what I don't like is when you have somebody in charge who is definitely has no character at all. Like you say, vindictive, thin skin, posts racial things on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm saying. I'm gonna say what you're saying. Donald Trump is bad for the country. I'm gonna say it. I'm not talking about Republicans. I'm not talking about Democrats. I'm not talking about politics. I'm talking about his behavior and the actions that he stoked. Folks, you've got Republicans on Capitol Hill that wouldn't do half the things that they're doing if it wasn't for them being scared they'd lose their power because he'd get them booted out of office because of the clout that he has. He's engaged in bullying. You going after James Comey a year later for some post on social media. Are you kidding me? I mean, this is the kind of stuff that he's doing. The pettiness, the vindictiveness. The way the Department of Justice and tried to go is going after Don, language, Lemon and others. What are you doing? What are you doing? He's on a vengeance tour. He's being vindictive and petty and oh, by the way, a tariff war. We don't know whether or not that's working out. I give credit what credit is due to economy hasn't collapsed. The dot, you know, I mean, the US US Currency is still. Is still the standard, you understand, but. And he has definitely closed the borders which needed to be closed. I got it. But there's a plethora of things that he hasn't done done right. And his decorum and his absence of statesmanship and his unwillingness to galvanize and to bring folks together. When he showed up after the whole thing at the White House, correspondents did it the other night, I thought that he sounded incredibly reasonable. And I applauded, essentially how he conducted himself and comported himself at the White House 30 to 45 minutes afterwards. But then the next day, I think it was with Norah o' Donnell or whomever he was talking to. He was as classless as ever. And then you see Cash Patel and Pam Bondi when she was with the DOJ and others and how they conduct themselves, and it's like it's a requirement to act up in a belligerent and disrespectful and juvenile fashion. How the hell are we supposed to have confidence as American people when you got a president acting and leading like that? How is that supposed to happen? I'm not talking about politics. I'm not talking about Republicans versus Democrats. Kristi Norman, the way she was acting. I mean, this is unbelievable that the nonsense that is going on and it's embarrassing that we got leaders acting like that. It just is. We don't even get to get to half as politics today. We do it. When you do stuff like that happened in Louisiana and the Supreme Court rules the way that it did and the Voting Rights act is compromised, that's different, T Love. But basically on a regular high acts, it's unbecoming of the president of the United States. Period.

[Caller]

Period. Body with the slightest amount of decency. It just doesn't make sense. I didn't vote for Reagan. I didn't vote for Bush. But those guys were classy people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They understood what came with the role of the presidency. I got to go, T Love. They understood what came with the role of the presidency. How this man behaves is despicable. Most of the time it's ridiculous. We ain't talking politics. We're talking about what the presidency should uphold. And it's a damn shame. It really, really is. But it's something that we have to deal with until 2028 because impeaching him and all of that stuff is a waste of time. We need to stop that nonsense. That's it for this edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly back with you next Wednesday night. Until then, peace of love, everybody. This is a Monday.com ad, the same Monday.com designed for every team. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one. The same Monday.comwith an easy and intuitive setup. Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Breathe in. Feel the sense of calm that comes from having up to $300 in overdraft protection with Goto Bank. Now. Did you say $300? Yes. Now back to our breathing. So if I overspend my balance, Goto bank has my back up to $300. Yes. Can we breathe out now? Less worries, more zen. With over $300 in overdraft protection, tap to open an account today. Eligible direct deposits and opt in required for overdraft protection fees. Terms and conditions apply.