CHAOS IN AMERICA; DONAVAN MCKINNEY (D-MI), CORBIN TRENT

Summary

The Stephen A. Smith Show — CHAOS IN AMERICA; DONAVAN MCKINNEY (D-MI), CORBIN TRENT

Date: March 26, 2026
Host: Stephen A. Smith
Guests: Donovan McKinney (Michigan State Rep), Corbin Trent (Brand New Congress/Justice Democrats)
Theme: U.S. Political Chaos, TSA Shutdown, Economic Hardship, Progressive Politics, Voter Disenfranchisement, and the State of National Leadership

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Episode Overview

This episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith dives deep into America’s current sense of crisis: government dysfunction, economic and social fallout from a prolonged TSA shutdown, rising turmoil at home and abroad, and what ordinary Americans are facing as a result. Stephen A. moves beyond sports, taking sharp aim at failing leadership on both sides of the aisle—focusing much blame on President Trump’s policies—and discusses the state of progressive politics with featured guests Donovan McKinney and Corbin Trent. Listener calls weigh in on gas prices, the SAVE Act, DEI programs, and the root causes of voter disillusionment.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stephen A. Smith’s Opening Monologue: Sounding the Alarm on Chaos & Leadership Failure

• Government Paralysis: Stephen A. expresses deep concern about paralysis in Washington, using the ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding lapse and TSA worker crisis as examples of how broken politics are harming Americans directly ([01:11]–[09:21]).
  • Quote: “How many of you can afford to pay your bills if you go without a check for three months?” — Stephen A. ([06:25])
• Connecting the Dots: Points out the link between government gridlock, public frustration, and the risk of social upheaval; invokes Jan 6 as a real sign of potential chaos if neglected needs remain unaddressed.
• Critique of President Trump: Sharp personal attacks on Trump, framing him as self-serving and obsessed with retroactive electoral validation (SAVE Act) over immediate American suffering.
  • Quote: “No matter what happens, is something involving him in a Trump name benefiting and profiting on the back end.” ([10:20])
• Economic and Social Pain: Details the burdens on TSA workers—missed pay, evictions, repossessions, selling plasma to make ends meet.
  • Quote: “People are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood… How long do you think the American people gonna take that?” — Stephen A. ([08:50])
• War & Foreign Policy: Criticizes military engagement in the Middle East, implying it’s costly, unpopular, and risks further destabilization at home and abroad.

Timestamps:

• [01:11] Stephen A. Smith opens the show, introduces theme
• [06:22] Corbin Trent’s interjection: “Horrible.”
• [07:27] Play excerpt of TSA testimony: pain and hardships TSA workers face

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2. Interview: Donovan McKinney (Michigan State Rep, running for Congress)

[26:39]–[40:44]

Profile & Motivation

• Background: Grew up in poverty, 13 moves, periods of homelessness, but stable, loving family ([27:31]).
• Political Philosophy: Running on affordability and practical progressivism for one of the nation’s poorest districts; vows to avoid corporate PAC money ([28:31], [30:59]).

Election Context & Voter Disconnection

• District Dynamics: Battling an older, multimillionaire Democratic incumbent lacking tangible delivery for the district.
• Why Voters Are Defecting: Black and Hispanic voters in Michigan are disengaged/disaffected, voting Trump in higher numbers due to feeling abandoned by the Democratic Party, which, McKinney asserts, has lost its identity ([30:28], [30:59]).
• Progressive but Pragmatic: “My politics is more on the progressive side of things, but I'm also pragmatic... If it's not about the redistribution of resources... get out my Face.” ([32:48])

Key Quotes

• On Democrats’ identity crisis: “We have an identity crisis. We don't even know what a Democrat stands for nowadays.” — Donovan McKinney ([30:59])
• On progressive values: "Progressivism, to me is common sense policy… ensuring that every family ... has access to clean and affordable water,... affordable health care." — Donovan McKinney ([34:09])
• On corporate accountability: “My grandfather worked for Ford for 42 years, never missed a day... because Ford had his back. Corporations don’t have workers’ backs anymore.” — Donovan McKinney ([35:59])
• On winning working-class votes: “Stop talking about taking care of corporations… We've got to get back to basics.” ([38:48])

Timestamps

• [27:04] McKinney introduction
• [29:33] McKinney on his opponent/incumbent
• [30:59] On black/Hispanic voters
• [32:21] Smith presses on “traditional vs. progressive”
• [35:59] McKinney’s “Ford had his back” story
• [38:48] Final advice for Democrats

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3. Listener Calls and Reactions: Frustration, Fear, and Policy Debates

[41:02]–[53:30] & [83:21]–[100:44]

• SAVE Act & Voter ID: Heated debate on whether strict ID requirements protect democracy or disenfranchise voters.
  • Quote, Caller Cheryl (Texas): “The SAVE act is a solution in search of a problem... [it] will definitely disenfranchise a lot of voters from all political spectrums.” ([42:08])
  • Stephen A.: “If you are a US citizen… you don’t have a passport, that shouldn’t prohibit you from voting.” ([43:22])
• Gas Prices & War: College student lays out the real-world impact of $4-6/gallon gasoline and questions the current war’s direction, with Stephen A. noting global instability pushes prices higher ([45:09]–[46:03]).
• Citizens United: Stephen A. blames the 2010 Supreme Court decision for unleashing unchecked dark money/corporate influence in politics ([49:26]), with callers expressing bipartisan disgust.
• DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion): Smith clarifies that white women are the primary beneficiaries, not Black Americans; sees current race-based resentment as demographic “fear” rather than justified grievance ([78:52]).
• Disaffection with Both Parties: Multiple callers (including deep-red Texas) voice feelings of disgust with both the right and left, with some independents choosing Democrats for the first time in decades ([92:14]).
• On Voter Apathy: Some callers argue that making voting harder would “filter out” the uninformed—Stephen A. pushes back forcefully, defending one-issue voters as legitimate ([96:00]–[99:22]).

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4. Interview: Corbin Trent (Brand New Congress/Justice Democrats, Former AOC/Bernie Strategist)

[53:31]–[78:51]

Progressive Vision & American Teamwork

• Big, Bold Solutions: Trent defines progressivism as “a big, bold vision for a different America,” recalling times when Democrats spearheaded transformational public works ([54:19]).
• Real Progressives vs. Party Leadership: Strongly distinguishes between true progressives and establishment Democrats, blaming both mainstream parties for decades of economic mismanagement ([55:52]).
  • Quote: “My guess is the Democratic Party has that [big vision] still left in their DNA. But only some people do... Ain’t Gavin Newsom. It ain’t old Joe Biden.”

Critiques of Capitalism, Government, and Party Failure

• Explains historic public/private partnerships, loss of local control over infrastructure, and the destructive handoff of America’s “means of production” overseas ([58:03], [64:07]).
• Says both parties embraced globalization, but Democrats are like a “fire department that stands by and lets the house burn” ([62:45]).

Vision for the Future

• On messaging: “Work together for America.” ([71:18])
• Funding progressive change: “Debt’s part of it. But the question’s not, are you in debt? The question is, what are you doing with your debt?” ([72:24])
• On AOC & leadership: “I’d have somebody that’s like 15% Trump, 40% AOC, and then we’ll do the rest... she’s got such a vision of justice... sharp as a whip.” ([74:18])

Party Strategy

• Argues progressives must primary corporate/centrist Democrats, as FDR did, to build a “New Deal” style coalition ([65:46]).
• Warns against poll-driven, inauthentic politics, saying Democrats fail when they parrot lines they don’t believe ([77:18]).

Timestamps

• [53:31] Corbin Trent segment introduction
• [54:19] Progressivism and public works
• [58:03] Rural Electrification; hospital ownership
• [64:07] “We actually gave away the means of production to China”
• [71:11] What’s the 3-word message?: “Work together for America”
• [74:18] What if AOC/Bernie were President?
• [77:18] On Democratic messaging

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Stephen A. Smith

• “How long do you think the American people gonna take that?... Desperate times, desperate measures.” ([08:50])
• “You got to have some compassion for the American people… you also don't want to hear folks acting like it’s excessive to ask for an id.” ([12:40])
• “Do the job. Just do your job.” ([93:53], reacting to Trump’s Republican Congressional Dinner award)

Donovan McKinney

• “I’m running to represent one of the poorest Congressional districts in the nation… people need someone that’s going to fight, that’s going to meet the moment.” ([29:33])
• “Progressivism to me is common sense policy.” ([34:09])

Corbin Trent

• “We don’t have the value we had as a nation... now our big value is: if you’re nice to us, we won’t bomb you.” ([61:55])
• “If the enhanced subsidies expire… what they’re talking about is us returning to Obamacare... the thing that Obama was cheering about four or five days ago.” ([66:50])
• “Debt’s not the question, it’s what you’re doing with your debt.” ([72:24])

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Key Timestamps For Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Content | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:11 | Stephen A. opens; monologue on government/TSA chaos, Jan 6 relevance | | 07:27 | TSA testimony “unprecedented disruption,” worker plight | | 26:39 | Donovan McKinney interview (background, vision, progressivism) | | 41:02 | Listener calls — SAVE Act, gas prices, Citizens United, DEI | | 53:31 | Corbin Trent interview (progressivism, party critique, ideas) | | 71:18 | Trent’s slogan: “Work together for America” | | 78:52 | Listener call: DEI/affirmative action, demographic shift, equity | | 83:21 | More listener calls — frustration, ideas for progressives | | 93:53 | Stephen A. on Trump: “I think I’m gonna throw up…” (Republican dinner) |

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Tone & Flow

• Authentic, unscripted, and fiery. Stephen A. keeps his signature direct “straight shooter” style, balancing righteous anger with humor and personal stories.
• Guest interviews are conversational but challenging: Smith presses both McKinney and Trent to get specific and push beyond slogans.
• Listener calls are engaged respectfully, often with passionate debate and practical, real-world observations.
• The episode captures the mood of Americans—angry, fearful, but eager for leadership with real solutions.

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Summary Takeaways

• U.S. is at a breaking point: Dysfunction in Washington has very real economic consequences; worker unrest/mass exit in TSA could be a precursor to wider chaos.
• Establishment vs. Progressive Divide: Both guests argue that only a bold, progressive vision can meaningfully address economic inequality and restore faith in government—but acknowledge the left is deeply divided and faces messaging challenges.
• Disenfranchisement Fears: Stringent voting/ID laws like the SAVE Act, coupled with economic hardship, threaten to lock out millions—often by design.
• Voters are Tired & Angry: Calls reflect broad dissatisfaction with both parties, with many ready to abandon partisanship for genuine answers and action.
• Action, Not Rhetoric: The overwhelming plea: Stop serving the powerful, start improving real lives—lower the cost of living, fix the basics, and revive trust.

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For more unfiltered political fire, catch Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith every Wednesday night on SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124, or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

[Commercial Voice]

Wasn't that delicious? So good.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Your bill, ladies.

[Commercial Voice]

I got it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, I got it.

[Corbin Trent]

Seriously, I insist.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I assisted first.

[Corbin Trent]

Oh, don't be silly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Commercial Voice]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, paper, scissors.

[Commercial Voice]

Shoot.

[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Corbin Trent]

Straight Shooter with Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you, as I love to do every Wednesday night over the airwaves of Sirius XM, POTUS radio, channel 124. Number to call up, as always, is 866-96-OTUS. That's 866-96-OTUS. 866-967-6887. I want to start off today's show, tonight's show, this week's show, rather than calling the politicians on Capitol Hill flaming idiots or people who are unproductive or whatever it is else that I may want to say, rather than engaging in castigation and going off, let me try to bring it home for you in a different kind of way as to why, if they're not smart, they need to get smart. Because things could go awry quick, fast and in a hurry. I want to let y' all know that I've always thought that January 6th was an insurrection. I'm not a Republican, I'm not MAGA, and I damn sure ain't a progressive leftist either. But I know an insurrection when I see one. And when you're storming our nation's capital, you're bulldozing through barricades, you're ignoring instructions from law enforcement official, and you're causing chaos and bodily harm while invading the offices of elected officials, defecating in their offices and doing the kind of things that can only be described as lawlessness and engaging in that kind of mayhem, that's an insurrection. The relevancy to that on this particular day, ladies and gentlemen, is that while me, nor you, nor anyone in a Democratic Society like the United States of America should ever, ever condone such a thing. Condoning is one thing. Understanding it is another. Do you not see what the hell is going on right now throughout the airports of America? Do you not see what is transpiring in our country right now? Do you really, really think that if you continue to be on Capitol Hill getting nothing done, being inept and impotent at the expense of the American people, that it's not going to come back to bite you in the ass in some way, shape or form? Because I'm here to tell you it's going to. Let me just read some of this stuff because I want to make sure you have it and you put it in its proper perspective. Right now you're talking about a deal for DHS that hasn't come through. They're still fighting over this stuff. TSA is not funded. Call outs have proliferated, walkouts have taken place, flip outs and the like. Meanwhile, we're sending soldiers to the Middle east for a war that most people don't believe should ever be a war. And we should be. And I'll get to that in a second. But it's relevant to bring this stuff up, ladies and gentlemen, particularly on this day, because as we have a president who tells us one minute we're not at war and then the next minute we find out we're at war. And then he gets on the phone with Iran and he says, you know what? They've agreed to a deal with no new nukes, only to hear them come out 24 hours later and say we don't know what the hell he's talking about because we damn sure didn't agree to that. Then you take into account what's transpiring at the airport, these long ass lines, people having 4, 5, 6, 8 hour waits. When you see all of this stuff going on, how long do you think it's going to take before chaos reigns? You really, really think the American people gonna sit idly by and say nothing and do nothing? You really, really think the American people are gonna sit idly by and just spout off at the mouth in front of a microphone? Or go on television with the cameras rolling and just engage in pundancy with their commentary? Partisan pundits, y' all might add. You think it's gonna stop there? You really think that's gonna happen? Because if you don't, you're not paying attention to the climate, how things have regressed on both sides of the aisle. And I, ultimately things are going to come Home to roost. Approval rating for the President in terms of his job performance right now have fallen to 36%.

[Corbin Trent]

Horrible.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But it doesn't stop there. As of today, the Department of Homeland Security funding lapse has stretched to day 40 via TSA's own testimony on Capitol Hill this week. They said employees have already worked 87 days without pay in fiscal year 2026. 87 days, ladies and gentlemen, is nearly three months without pay. How many of you can afford to pay your bills if you go without a check for three months? Now, I believe this woman. Her name is Hanuin McNeil for the TSA. She spoke on Capitol Hill to my producers. Could you play this sound from her, please? Let's hear what she had to say.

[Commercial Voice]

This level of disruption is unprecedented and unacceptable and significantly undermines the security of US transportation systems. 99% of TSA of the TSA workforce operates outside of the National Capital region, working across the country, living within your districts and communities. 95% or more than 61,000 of TSA's employees must continue working without pay during a shutdown. Congress and the traveling public should be proud of the excellent job the TSA workforce does to protect our national security. Paying these dedicated employees for the work they are performing should never be a point of debate. And yet here we are on the 40th day of our third shutdown this fiscal year. Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their childcare, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line and drained their retirement savings. Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma and taking on jobs, second jobs to make ends meet. All while being expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public. A transportation security officer at Reagan National Airport recently said, I just want Congress to pay me for the job I am doing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Acting TSA administrator testifying on Capitol Hill. People are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood, what is through blood plasma. They're talking about getting second jobs. And why, ladies and gentlemen, 87 days without pay in fiscal year 2026. By this Friday, March 27th,

[Donovan McKinney]

folks will

[Stephen A. Smith]

have missed pay totaling $1 billion, $1 billion, while the President and his family have pocketed a minimum of 1.5 billion for themselves. I ask again, how much you, how long you think that's going to last? I heard Marjorie Taylor Greene, the now former Georgia Republican Rep who used to support Trump but ultimately turned against him, going off about him and his lack of focus on America being first because of all of this stuff going on in the Middle East. You know why I don't want to particularly hear from her either? Because according to reports, she came into office a couple of years ago worth a few. A couple of hundred thousand dollars. And when she departed this January, she was worth 25 million. They all getting paid. But not you. Not if you're a TSA worker. You know, it gets worse. According to Associated press, more than 3200 TSA workers missed work just this past Monday. Nearly 11% of those scheduled and at least 458 had quit since the shutdown began 40 days ago. Some reports have that number at 480. As you heard Ms. McNeil articulate, approximately 61,000 folks are working without pay. You really think a second insurrection ain't possible? You really think that folks descending on Capitol Hill ain't possible? I got news for you. They show up, it ain't going to be because of some no Kings protest. And I'm not trying to minimize that. But arguing about the President and the power that he wields is entirely different than storming the nation's capital built because you're get. You're not getting paid for the work that you do. While government officials are getting paid, they're actually compelling people to keep working without giving them a check. How long do you think the American people gonna take that? Because we're only as strong as our weakest link. And if you ain't making anything, the people around you who are making something are going to have a problem. Because ultimately the people who ain't making a damn thing are going to be looking for you to assist them or desperate times call for desperate measures. And who knows what level of lawlessness folks will engage in because you starving. I don't break laws. The only law I've ever broken in my life is speeding. And I'm here to tell you right now, if my ass was broke and I couldn't place some bills and I didn't have food on my table, I might rob your ass. Desperate times, desperate measures. This is not a joke. And the President is sitting up here literally holding folks hostage. Because we have not just the Democrats. We had two Republican senators and John Kennedy out of Louisiana and Ted Cruz out of Texas roll up to the President. They're Republicans, and they said, we think we have a deal that we can make to open the Department of homeland security. Again. ICE is still funded through 2029. We could come with some reconciliation bill on the back end to address the concerns about ice, but for Right now, just to get these people getting a check again and to get folks back to work and to make sure there's not a dissipation of bodies at the airport as TSA workers to keep folks safe. We think we got a bill. And what does the president say? I ain't doing a damn thing unless the Democrats approve the SAVE act which don't have anything to do with the apartment of Homeland Security funding. Because this man, a grown ass man, supposedly damn near 80 years old, supposedly a billionaire, even though that's official now with the money he getting since he been back in office, got business deals going on in the Middle east, got business deals for himself right here in the United States of America. No matter what happens, is something involving him in a Trump name benefiting and profiting on the back end, whether it's with Wit cough or his son in law Kushner, his envoys to the Middle east or anything else, whether it's his son Eric and Don Jr. Or it's Trump himself getting paid, but the American people getting screwed over and he has no problem with it at all. No wonder he said for the record, he didn't think he was going to heaven. I know he ultimately showed up one day and said he was joking. I don't think he was. He knows he's destined for hell with this kind of nonsense going on. Not like this. You got to have some compassion for the American people. The man sat up there, two Republican senators came to him and he still wouldn't make a deal. And it's because of the SAVE act and because why this man is addicted. Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. Proposed U. S Law focused on tightening voter registration rules. That's what he focused on. That's what he's determined to fix. That's what he's determined rather than to push through. Because in his mind that will validate his proclamations that he was robbed of an election in 2020. And once again he's right. Far be it for him to pay attention to the fact that he's back in office now legitimately so 77 million plus people voted for him. He still wants to look in the rearview mirror. Proven points. Never mind that it potentially disenfranchises 20 to 25 million people when even a real ID or a driver's license or a Social Security card ain't enough. And if you show up and present your passport, even then they want a second form, a id. Let me stay for the record. You should have a damn id. I have no problem with the demand for an ID to vote, you need an ID for every damn thing else. And to the progressive left. Shut the hell up. You got a mayor in New York city that required two IDs for you to shovel snow. You ain't in no position to be bitching about how he wants IDs and the GOP wants IDs for votes. Shut up. Nobody wants to hear that. But in the same breath, you also don't want to hear folks acting like it's excessive to ask for an id. And in the same breath, you don't want to ignore when Democrats say it's too excessive because the IDs that people have, you suddenly say ain't good enough. When we got an official in Utah involving voting talking to you about the polls and how 2 million people in the state of Utah voted and they found one illegitimate vote out of 2 million, and that person didn't even vote. You know, it's not a problem. It's exaggerated, it's embellished, which makes this about him and not us. And now we got the war in Iran. In Iran going on. The Strait of Amuse still isn't open. Iran is demanding control of that. Knowing that 20% of the world's oil comes through there. Folks standing still, stagnant, can't move because they're scared a drone is going to blow them out of the water. So they ain't doing anything. It's compromising us. Globally, oil prices have risen. National average gas price is $3.98. It was about 50%, 50 cent less last week. In the state of California, it's approaching $6 a gallon. That's not just because of this. That's damn sure because of Gavin Newsom and the local government here in the state of California. That's no doubt. But nevertheless, it is what it is. Cost of the war, 800 million to 2 billion for operation Epic Fury per day. And our deficit is over $39 trillion. Do you understand what you're doing, Washington? I'm not advocating for it. I would never do such a thing. I am a law abiding citizen. Look up my record. I don't do that. I don't do that. I'm just telling you what could happen. How long do you think the American people gonna stand for this? Lines backed up. I didn't even bring up airport security. We got a plane. Air Canada flight landed in LaGuardia, crashes because something's on the Runway. Two pilots killed, 40 people, plus injured. You got TSA lines out of the wazoo hours upon Hours of delays. You don't think Iran, with its proxies. It ain't just about Hezbollah and Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen. You got kind of proxies all over the place. We don't know what people. You just finished talking about how people cross the border. How anywhere from 8 to 12 to 15 million people cross the border illegally. You haven't even gotten a million out yet. Every day you got one of these right wing networks talking to us about illegal migrants and the danger they pose. And now we got this stuff going on with Iran. Who's to say they don't have people here ready to try to commit another line? 11, what the hell is up? I don't know about y', all, but I'm scared. Want to get on no damn flight. I don't want to get on a bus. I don't want to get on a train. Why? This is real life stuff. And all y' all got to do is come together and look out for the American people instead of yourself and reach an accord. It's what you were elected to do, and you can't do that. See, it's moments like this where I believe. American people don't get paid. You don't get paid. American people can't afford a vacation. You don't get a vacation. American people can't afford to leave town. You don't leave town. And a matter of fact, when they board flights and train rides and bus rides, public transportation, you should have to be right there with them. Let's be in the muck and Maya together. Not y' all sitting on some perch looking down on the minions. On the minions and the peons of the world. Oh, we'll figure it out. They'll be okay. This is why people say y' all ain't. This is the problem. 800 million to $2 billion a day. If you're spending $2 billion a day, what's wrong with making a deal that ensures that a billion dollars isn't lost over the last 40 plus days for TSA, you know you can fund it. You know you can do what's necessary. You're just using the issue to get other things that you want that have nothing to do with them. As American citizens. You're using them as pawns. I'm not advocating, nor would I ever, an insurrection. Any form of violence whatsoever, I'm diametrically opposed to. But if folks roll up on Capitol Hill in unpleasant fashion in the near future, don't say I didn't warn you and tell you why they're not just doing it or even thinking about doing it because of their frustration with your actions and your ineffectiveness and inefficiency. They would be doing it because they don't believe you give a shit about the American citizen. And you wouldn't even be in a position to tell them they're lying with what you're subjecting the American people to. And no matter how bad the Democrats and the Republicans are, nobody at this moment in time is worse than President Trump, the deal maker in decline. I thought you were that dude, man. What up, don? What up, Mr. President? What's up? I thought you were that dude. Ukraine, Russia resolved in one day, huh? Israel, Haran. Wouldn't be no war with me, huh? We ain't trying to engage in warfare in the Middle East. No new wars, huh? The deficit got. Trim that down, huh? You closed the borders that much. You did tariff wars. Where's the evidence? Where's these trillions of dollars that was supposed to come pouring into the United States of America? And if it was going to be the trillions of dollars pouring into the United States of America, why would this deal be such a big deal if we got those kind of dollars coming in? Cause your ass was lying. What a shame. What a shame. 866-967. 6887 is the number of club. That's 86696. POTUS. You are listening live to the Steven to the Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6

[Caller]

to

[Stephen A. Smith]

8pm Eastern Standard Time. Up next, he's a proud Detroit native, a member of Michigan's House of representatives for the 11th district. He's now running for a seat in the 13th congressional district. He's a Democrat that's got a lot to say, and I'm going to give him a chance to say just that. His name is Donovan McKinney. He's up next with yours truly. Straight Shooter in the House, potus radio, channel 124. Back with more in a minute.

[Commercial Voice]

Wasn't that delicious? So good.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Your bill, ladies.

[Commercial Voice]

I got it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, I got it.

[Corbin Trent]

Seriously, I insist.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I insisted first.

[Commercial Voice]

Oh, don't be silly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You don't be silly. People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

[Commercial Voice]

Okay.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[Caller]

Rock, paper, scissors.

[Donovan McKinney]

Shoot.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No. The Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit card. Visit wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply.

[Commercial Voice]

Cash now. More later from Opendoor gives you cash up front for your home plus all the profit later. That's no chaos now. No cash left behind later. Skip the showings now. Pay pocket extra profit later. This is so simple now. This is so awesome. Later or sell fast now and pop the champagne later. Cash now. More later. Now available nationwide. Start your [e-mail] radio. Profits calculated after fees and costs. Eligibility and offer price may vary.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I already told you who my next guest is, but it's worth repeating because by all account, it appears he's the real deal. And I'm looking forward to talking to him. Proud Detroit native and a member of Michigan's House of Representatives for the 11th district. He's now running for a seat in the 13th congressional district. Please welcome to Straight Shooter with yours truly, the one and only Donovan McKinney. Representative McKinney, how are you, sir? Welcome to Straight Shooter. How you doing?

[Donovan McKinney]

I was telling you earlier on the break, I didn't even know who you, I didn't know who you know or that I, that you know who I was. So I'm just blessed to be on the show, man.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I keep my eyes out for everything and everybody that's trying to do good things. And obviously that's certainly you. Talk to me about yourself and why the transition from the 11th district to the 13th district within the same state and what you're hoping to accomplish with that move.

[Donovan McKinney]

Born and raised in the city of Detroit. Grew up with my mom, my grandmother, my younger brother. We moved over 13 times across the city. Spent the vast majority of my life on the Northeast side. And, you know, we didn't grow up with a lot of, you know, resources. You know, there was days we didn't know where our next meal was going to come from. We, we stayed in cars, sometimes a shelter, sometimes the street. But there was no shortage of love for my, from my, for my family. And we did everything we possibly could to give us the best life. And it just led me into helping people into the life of public service. So that's what I'm doing now in the state legislature. I've been there for two terms and now I'm excited to head to Congress with the help of the people in the 13th district this August. So, yeah, excited to be on the show, brother.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Talk to me about this move and if you were to win this election, what kind of position it would put you in that you're not in now, just for clarification with my listeners.

[Donovan McKinney]

So for those who don't know, I'm part of the quote unquote state legislature. So you know, we made policies for the entire state of Michigan and now I'm looking to go federal and essentially go headed to the Congress in the halls of D.C. working with, you know, the Congress as well as the Senate and the President. But you know, one of the things that I've been working on in the state legislature, I'd like to continue in Congress is the issue around affordability. Now I represent Stephen A. The poorest House district in the state of Michigan. Currently. The median income of my current state House district is around $14,000. And I'm running to represent one of the poorest congressional districts in the nation. It's actually the fifth poorest. And so one of the things that we're working on is making sure that the quality of life issues, making sure that at the end of the day people can make sure they make the ends meet. And that's really top of mind for a lot of the residents we want to represent.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You're running against an individual that's about 33 years older than you. He's a two term or the person's a two term incumbent or whatever, and you're challenging a sitting Democrat in the safely blue seat. Why? Is this about results and not just ideological branding?

[Donovan McKinney]

No, that's a good question, Stephen A like at the end of the day, my opponent, he, he's not been delivering for the district and what we've been doing in the state legislature on Appropriations Committee, I'm the only Detroiter in the House on appropriations last term and this term and I was able to shepherd hundreds of millions of dollars back to the district and the surrounding area and I'm looking to do the same thing in Congress. I know my opponent's claim to fame is just a few million dollars to the district and that's not cutting it. People need somebody that's going to fight, that's going to meet the moment, that's going to fight for both values and that's what we're all about.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Michigan remains a crucial battleground state, as you well know. In 2020, 24 election, 21% of Black men in Michigan voted for Donald Trump. And that figure rose to about 58% among Hispanic voters of both genders. Black voter turnout is essential for wins in Michigan and of course the United States. By the way, just ask Jasmine Crockett about that, particularly in red states. Why does it appear they are disengaged or voting for Trump? And what must Democrats do differently to retain and expand that support in your estimation?

[Donovan McKinney]

Well, you know, I've been having A lot of barbershop conversations and just people in my neighborhood and we talk shop and at the end of the day they feel like the Democratic Party has abandoned them. And I'm a big believer that it's time for a new generation of leadership and people in there that's going to have that fight. Right now people are ticked off at party leadership no matter what state people. If you look at the polling, the Dems aren't necessarily doing better than Trump right now. And it's because we have left the base and what it means to be a real Democrat. We don't have an identity crisis. We're in identity crisis. We don't even know what a Democrat stands for nowadays. Stephen A. You talked about it a lot on your show. And right now for me, what a Democrat means to be is the party of the people. And so we have to put aside all of the, not only all of the partisan rhetoric and politics, but you can't serve two masters. And right now our district serv and the people that live in them, they feel like the Democratic Party are very similar to the Republican Party when it comes to the corporate interests. And right now our campaign, just to let you know, we're not taking any corporate PAC money. We don't have any corporate influence because we don't want our hands tied behind our backs when we out here fighting for the people in the halls of Lansing as well as soon to be in the halls of D.C. so do

[Stephen A. Smith]

you consider yourself a traditional Democrat or a progressive? Like, meaning when people look at the extreme left and some of the progressives and woke culture, cancer culture, some of the things I've lamented to be quite honest, because I'm gonna keep it 100 with you. You know, I don't. I love you. I respect the Democratic Party. I consider myself an independent that leans Democrat but not progressive Democrat. I could tell you that much. Which one do you consider yourself to be?

[Donovan McKinney]

STEPHEN A. And I've heard you talk about it on your show. I'm more, I lean towards, you know, you got the center left Democrats and then you got, you know, the left Democrats. On the progressive side. My politics is more on the progressive side of things, but I'm also pragmatic because I'm willing to make sure that at the end of the day this is about bringing resources back home to the district and the people we represent. And so if it's not about the redistribution of resources, that's how I define politics, then I need you to get out of my way, get out my Face, because my people, the people that I represent, need us to do everything possible to make sure we bring back the bacon, bring home money and resources so that quality life can improve.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Representative McKinney, help me understand this, okay? 77 million people voted for Donald Trump.

[Donovan McKinney]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They say that right now, the independent base in this country, somebody that refuses to be associated with either party definitively, from an ideological perspective, I'm one of those people. We make up about 45% being a progressive leftist. How is that possibly going to benefit? This could tell me the benefits of being a progressive leftist in the United States of America. I want to hear you help me understand, my brother. I'm all ears.

[Donovan McKinney]

This question because I have this dialogue in my own district and with so many other people across our state and is going to be now with your listeners. So at the end of the day, what's the beauty of progressivism? The beauty of it is common sense policy, in my view. Now, I hear you talk about on your show, like, why can't people agree to make sure that we get something done out of this government? And the reason why is because we are so prone to do the bidding of the corporate interests and the special interest, at the end of the day, people want us to do was right on their behalf. And so progressivism, to me is common sense policy that is making sure that every family in every household access to clean and affordable water, making sure that people, no matter what creed, color you are, no matter your economic status, that you have access to affordable health care. At the end of the day, these are the common sense policies that I believe progressivism are pushing, that I think the American people want and need.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, I think the progressive policies that the progressive left is pushing, I can respect where they're coming from from an emotional perspective, but from a pragmatic perspective, as a state representative who's had to deal with corporations, you know how it goes. Better than me, better than most people. And you know, when you needing money and you're needing financial assistance from corporate, it's kind of hard to get it when you're, you, you're. You're denigrating them because of what they ain't doing. How you gonna figure out how you gonna get their help when you, you know how it is. Representative McKinney, look, and I say that, and I'll use the analogy, damn it, y' all ain't worth the damn. You ain't been worth the damn. You don't give a damn about anybody else. By the way, can I get some money? How that gonna work? Help, help a brother understand how that's gonna work. Rep. I need to know. I just need to know.

[Donovan McKinney]

I got a story for you, Stephen A. And okay, I just told it on the House floor and it's about my grandfather because the speaker of the House in Michigan introduced a resolution, you know, commemorating 250 years of American history, right? We're celebrating America 250 this year. And you know, they were talking about how great America is. But I had to share the story of my grandfather who literally flee him and my great grandparents flee the Jim Crow south to Detroit, Michigan for a better life. He ended up. One of the most interesting things about my grandfather is that he worked for Ford Motor Company 42 years, never missed a day of work. And like this brother loved our country, he loved Ford. And the reason why he never missed a day at work because he told me growing up Ford had his back, the corporation had his back. And so right now I got people who are literally slaving, working two, three jobs, trying to make ends meet. And the corporations for some reason aren't necessarily having the backs of the working class people. And so they have to be held accountable. They keep coming to us. And I'm on a corporation at the state level, I guarantee it happens at the federal level. They come to us for corporate handouts, they come to us for all these subsidies of our taxpayer money. But when it comes, when push comes to some, there's no long term vision how to make sure these jobs are kept and people are honestly earning the best, the most amount of money they can to not only take care of their families but, but look forward to a retirement. And so like we have to get back to the basis and the fundamentals and we have to hold these corporations accountable. That's what progressives are saying, that's what people like me are saying. And to be honest with you, they kind of agree. I've talked to corporations, I've had plenty of conversations and they're like, you know what, you're right, we, we're all about the bottom line nowadays instead of taking care of the human capital.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Talking to Representative Donovan McKinney right here with Stephen A. Straight shooter with Stephen A. Before I let you get on out of here, just reminding everybody you're the two term incumbent you're going up against primarily, I mean you're one, there's five Democrats on a primary ballot. You're the main progressive challenger you plan on going up against challenging two term incumbent representative Sri Thaynder in Michigan's 13th congressional district. He's a multimillionaire. You've accused him of being more aligned with corporate interest in the working class district he represents. His campaign literally called, your campaign literally called his Detroit's own Elon Musk. That's what you called up. Which is a good one, by the way. It was a good one. I got to give you. That's a good one right there. I got to give that to you. But my last question to you would be this. If Democrats want to win back swing voters in 2026, what should they stop talking about and what should they start talking about as of tomorrow morning?

[Donovan McKinney]

So I would say we should stop talking about. Man, that's, that's a stunt question. But I would say this, Stephen A. Because I'm thinking about it right now. They should stop talking about at the end of the day taking care of corporations and, and doing what's best for them. At the end of the day, this is about getting our money out of politics and making sure that at the end of the day the people's voices are heard. We got to get back to the fundamentals and basics. I cannot stress that enough, Stephen A. And I appreciate you allowing me to have this platform on it on your show. But like we have to at the end of the day talk about working class values and the reason why people are struggling to make ends meet this, it's about understanding they have to have more of an earning potential and then building up pathways with our educational system, but also lowering the cost of everyday goods. And so gas prices right now, I heard you talking about that. Because of the idiotic things this administration is doing, putting us in forever wars like starting up amok and creating all this havoc and confusion our people are realizing and they coming to us crying for help, saying what are you guys doing? We need you guys to lower these prices. Instead you figuring out ways to make more money for the few. And so people are tired of the rhetoric, they're tired of the politics. They need action. They want us to do something. And that's what our candidates seat is about. That's what we're about. And I'm just excited, man, because we're going to win this seat.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's a big, big, it's too much to get into and we have to do this on another day. But you ain't lowering costs as long as the dollar continues to diminish in value. That's the bottom line. There's no way around it. And so, but that's a different subject for another day. Representative McKinney out of the 11th district, running for the 13th congressional district in the state of Michigan. Really appreciate your time. Thank you for coming on. Donovan McKinney, I really, really appreciate it. My man. All the best to you and we'll be here for you. We'll be watching.

[Donovan McKinney]

Good to see you. God bless you, brother. Appreciate the time.

[Stephen A. Smith]

God bless. All the best. 866-967-6887 is the number to call. That's 86696 POTUS to your phone calls. I go right after this commercial. It's live straight shooting with yours truly, Stephen A. Back with more in a minute.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Hey, Steven, Cheryl from Texas. The SAVE act is a solution in search of a problem. It is the unfunded mandate, just like the save the Real ID act was, which took 20 years to implement instead of three because it's a burden on states and on citizens. It shifts the burden of a state determining who is a US Citizen onto every citizen to prove the SAVE act does not determine or does not specify what documents are needed to prove a name change, say a marriage license. Instead, it shifts that to the states. The states have to adopt rules after the SAVE act passes. This will definitely disenfranchise a lot of voters from all political spectrums. Totally true. I don't have any disagreement with what she's saying, but I do believe that some detractors for the SAVE act have stupidly pointed to how it ensures only US Citizens would vote, which is supposed to be the law of the land anyway. So you're arguing against the law of the land, but the bottom line is if you are a United States citizen and you have a driver's license and you have a Social Security card, but you don't have a passport. That shouldn't proclute, that shouldn't prohibit you from voting. You know, I, I mean they, they need to clean up the system and not make it harder for the American citizen to get an id, you know, and so that, that's what it is. I'm certainly not going to act like somebody who's married and changed their name can't go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and other places and get an id. But the flip side to it is that it is arduous, it does take time and you have to do it. So you have to do it. It's not impossible. But let's not act like everybody is going to be keen on doing it. And because of that, it's not just illegal migrants who won't get to vote, which is appropriate and the right thing to happen. But you're going to have American citizens that don't want to deal with the headache and the arduous task of standing in line to get taken care, to take care of all of this other stuff. And as a result they'll say, hey, we just won't vote. And chances are folks are betting on the fact that most of those people are going to be Democrats instead of Republicans. Therefore it will assist in the GOP winning elections. So it's just a mess right now. It's clearly an agenda driven formula instigated by the President of the United States who's hanging his hat on all of that is just the latest way to prove that the election in 2020 was rigged and he should have never left office to begin with because he's on a vengeance tour and that's really what this is going on. So it's not far fetched to think that that's what this is all about. Especially when every time you turn around he's trying to have his name on something. It's all a mess. It really, really is. But let's get to the phones at, at 8669-9676-8878-6696, POTUS. Let's go to Macau in New Jersey. You're live with Stephen A. What's up?

[Caller]

Hey Stephen, big fan. I just want to talk to you about these gas prices right now. The gas prices right now are absolutely ridiculous. Was going on with the war in Iran. I'm a college student at Rutgers University and just, you know, I've been driving my, my car around, you know, campus and whatnot. And these gas prices, just unbelievable in a war that I believe that you

[Stephen A. Smith]

do understand you're in, you're in, you're in Jersey, right?

[Caller]

I do, I do.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm in, I'm, I'm in LA right now. Gas prices are nearly $6 a gallon.

[Caller]

Yes, yes, we have about, right now about four and a half. It's real bad. It's still real bad around here.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Caller]

And I just, I just think that the President right now with Donald Trump's doing, I think it's just, it's just a mess. It's been a mess for the past year and a half now. And I just, I, I just don't see a future with, you know, what he's doing right now is anything positive.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I will say this to you, I will say this to you. It's, it's evil and what have you, but I'm not going to lie. But what he did with Maduro in Venezuela, well, what's happening in, in Cuba and how it's, it's become a humanitarian crisis there. And who knows what, what we going to do with Cuba if somehow, some way, you know, we're able to infiltrate the proceedings and the Strait of Hormuze and, and other matters are resolved. And you know, we, we, we have a say and we have a stake in oil emanating out of that region that is going to put us in a considerably better position than we ever were before. And I won't deny the possibility of that happening could be exponentially beneficial to the United States of America. But it seems far fetched that that would happen. One must wonder how the Middle east region would feel about that. But I will share something to you that happened to me last night and I think everybody needs to know this. Macaulay. I'm driving home and I have a driver that's, I land in LA and I have a driver that's taking me home. And he was Iranian and he was Talking about how 50,000 people were killed in two days by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini. And, and you know, his henchmen, because they were protesting what was going on. They were talking about the cost of living, how significantly their dollar has been devalued, how only 10% of the population is remotely affluent, 90% of the population is poor and impoverished and really, really struggling, and how happy and ecstatic that they are that both Israel and the United States of America are doing what they're doing. And so if you're the President of the United States along with Israel. And that is truly how the people of Iran feel. In the end, the means may be justified. It's just that we don't see it at this particular moment in time here in the United States of America. And it's something that we just have to pay attention to, plain and simple. Appreciate the call. Thank you so much. Let's go to Nick in Washington. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Nick? Talk to me.

[Caller]

What's up, Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Go ahead, man.

[Caller]

Yeah, I just want to say, dude, I listen to you for a few weeks and wow, damn, you're correct on a lot of stuff. And I just love it that you're direct and you're not afraid to say what. What. What needs to be said, you know? Thank you. Just love it. You know, I'm a. I'm a Dallas Cowboy fan. I got a beating star, not a heart.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Caller]

You know, it's like, it's hard to hear you say stuff about the Cowboys, but a lot of stuff, it's true, you know, and just. I love that you're a straight shooter, you know, and what you're talking about here is. Is correct. You know, a lot of it has to stop. I mean, with special interest money that's going in. Yeah. And maybe term limits on the Congress, you know, maybe an age limit of 85 or something.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know, Citizens United changed all of that. Not only can people donate unlimited dollars to campaigns and stuff like that, you can also do it via dark money as well. You don't always have to reveal who the donors are and stuff like that. I mean, Citizens United, that ruling back in 2010, it changed the course of politics practically forever. So, you know, in terms of corporate influence and, you know, these, these packs, political action committees and all of this other stuff, I hope you're not hoping for better times in regards to that, because it ain't coming.

[Caller]

It's not, man. No, it's money. And again, it's the. The money is the root of all evil, and it's just corrupting politics. And it's happened. It's not just happening. Donald Trump, it's been happening, you know, and it's. It's just, you know, right now, it's

[Stephen A. Smith]

just blatant, but he's a proud figurehead of it, and that's what makes him more guiltier than most, because this man has come into office and at a time where they're spending a billion dollars, you know, and folks not receiving a check and stuff, and this cost in TSA workers a billion dollars. And all of this other stuff is going on when Kristi knows was the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She's spending about $300 million on planes. And Lord knows what the hell Hegseth is doing. And you see what Trump and his minions unions are doing. It's ridiculous. It really, really is. And, and I'm not gonna sit up there and engage in histrionics and disrespecting folks and all of this other stuff. But we deserve better from our leaders. While you taking care of yourself, at least make sure to take care of us. And that is not what's happening. 866-967-6887. That's 86696. Polish our number two up next with your calls and another guest in a minute. Don't go away. Straight shooter in the house. I'm here.

[Commercial Voice]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Visit wells fargo.com autographjourney Terms apply.

[Commercial Voice]

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[Corbin Trent]

In my reporting speak a lot to young voters, many of whom voted for

[Stephen A. Smith]

President Trump for the first time in 2024. You're hoping to have no more wars

[Corbin Trent]

than to have lowered prices. Now with the war taking place and

[Stephen A. Smith]

with gas prices going up, I'm curious what President Trump's message would be to those voters who kind of swung into his coalition in 2024, but maybe don't feel the administration is going as they had expected. Ms. President Trump is doing this for you. He's doing this for young people so that we are no longer threatened by a rogue terrorist regime in the Middle east that seeks to kill the brave men and women who serve in our country in the Middle east, many of them young people themselves, young men and women who who serve this country honorably in uniform and have been threatened, killed and maimed by the rogue Iranian terrorist regime for 47 years. President Trump finally had the courage to step up and do what's right by our national security, our homeland security. As for the temporary short term fluctuation in gas prices, the president has said once these combat operations are over, this administration is going to continue to unleash American energy dominance. We're continuing to do that every day and we're going to see prices at the pump go back down just as we have over the past year because of this President Levitt. She definitely does a hell of a job supporting the president no matter what

[Corbin Trent]

the hell he does.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Ain't no doubt about that. Welcome back to Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm over the airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. Before I get back to the phone calls, want to bring my next guest on the line. He is a co founder of the brand new Congress and co director of Justice Democrats, two grassroots organizations working to elect progressive Democrats to Congress. He also served as a communications director for Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and as a national strategist for Bernie Sanders presidential campaign campaign. Please welcome to Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Mr. Corbin Trent, thank you for coming onto the show. Let's get right to it. Why should anybody want to vote for a progressive Democrat in the year 2026?

[Corbin Trent]

I mean, I think you want to vote for candidates with a big, bold vision, with, with a vision for a different America. Well, I was just thinking about before I came on here because I know you got like this sports background, right? And I was just thinking how little America is playing as a team right now. You know, whether it's Democrats with each other, Republicans with each other, you know, community states, whatever it is, there is no goal. You know, it's like we've just got all these various states, various companies, various interests just playing for themselves and there's no unifying mission. And I think that whether it's progressives, whether it's people, you know, I think generally speaking, the Democratic Party, when you've seen America do big stuff, whether it's the interstate highway system or the TVA system or the aqueduct system in California, whether it's, you know, the subway systems, it's been Democrats that did it, got us to the moon. The thing, you know, whether it's Medicare, whether it's Social Security, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats. So my, my guess is, is that the Democratic Party has that still left in their DNA. At least some of the people do. You know why? That's why I would vote for somebody with. But it's not, you know, like, it ain't my, you know, ain't Gavin Newsom. It ain't, you know, old Joe Biden. Those aren't the people, you know, what you got to find is people with energy, with vision, ready to do the work to turn the country around. And I know a lot of people, I'm from Appalachia, and they thought that was going to be Donald Trump, but they got who, dude, they got hoodwinked. You know, that wasn't his goal from the beginning. His goal from beginning was get rich and do his own thing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So you never had any interest in politics, according to my research, but now you call yourself a progressive hillbilly who likes to go on Fox News. The word progressive means many things to many people. And I'm asking you to explain what that term means to you.

[Corbin Trent]

I don't know that. I don't particularly, you know, like, I got behind me this big TVA symbol. I got this dam over here that's actually less than a mile from my house. And I suppose progressive means progress, means building, it means providing. It means working towards a more fairer, better future for more people. That's what progressive means. And I think there's a lot of ways to do that in health care. I think there's a lot of ways to do that in our industry. There's a lot of ways to do that in our infrastructure. But it generally takes people coming together to work towards a common mission. And for whatever reason, it seems like we only do that when we're either at war, we're attacked, or when something terrible happens like a Great Depression or, you know, the. The Soviet Union's breathing down our neck. So we're going to, you know, try to do a cold war and get to the moon and a lunar race and things like that, space race. So for me, Progress Progressive is trying to replicate that same energy, that same passion for building, for progress, for transformation without disaster. Right? Just doing it because we know we can do it. Because life's going to be better for me, for you and for my kids and for everybody else's kids.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Corbyn, what do you say to folks on different sides of the aisle? On a different side of the aisle that listens to that? And they say, okay, you know what? What he's proposing in all likelihood involves the heavy hand of the government looking out for the desolate, the disenfranchised, and everybody in between. Right. And as a result, it's more of a replication of socialism, communism, fascism. These are the kind of things that folks, they throw out these kind of words. What do you believe? What. How do you think progressivism is affected by those, by, by, by those accusations?

[Corbin Trent]

I think people are scared to death of their own beliefs. You know, that's one thing that separates me from a lot of progressives, I guess, is that I have the courage of my convictions.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Corbin Trent]

You know, like, when I look back at our history as a country, I look back at things that we've done well, things that we've done poorly. What I see is that, like, for example, there's this thing called the Rural Electrification act. And that was something we did from the 30s all the way through into the 50s. And we electrified not just the south, but all of rural America. And we did it very quickly over a period of like 20 years. Now, it wasn't just the federal government doing it. The federal government provided the infrastructure, they provided the training, the engineering, they provided the dollars, they provided a lot of the know how. But local communities did it, local communities administrated it, local communities built it. I think in a, you know, in a really functional system, like, for example, the healthcare system, right now we're paying almost $6 trillion a year for health care. And it's a hodgepodge of weird insurances, hodgepodge of weird nonprofits, and for profits and public this and public that, you know, in private that. Now, if you go back to 1980s, the hospital, for example, that I was born in in 1980, was owned by the county and by the city. I was born in Morristown Hamblin Hospital in rural East Tennessee. And the city and the county owned that hospital. And that's the case all across this country. Used to be about 45% of our health care. The actual doctors, the infrastructure, the clinics, the hospitals were owned by communities, they were owned by the state, they were owned by cities and counties. And what that gave us was a competitive advantage with the other people that were trying to extract profit from the healthcare system. They tell us, oh, this triple bypass is going to cost $100,000. We'd say, no, it's not. How do we know? Because we did two yesterday and we know what they cost. Right? So the thing is, when we had public competition, whether it was in railway, whether it was in roadway, whether it was in healthcare, one of the advantages that gives you, like I'm in the construction trader, was until Trump got reelected. And if I'm going to do quotes. A, I got to know what my competition's quoting, but B, I got to know the cost if I'm going to buy something from a supplier. The better I understand the cost of that product, the more I'm going to be able to understand how much negotiation room I have. And right now we've got a government that's filled with people that don't know the cost of anything because we don't do anything anymore. They have pushed all the doing, all the building, all the know how for decades out of the government and into the private sector, or even worse, really is the nonprofit sector. Because I tell you, the nonprofit sector is filled with people that, you know, that are getting a lot of money to do very, very little. And, you know, I just think we're ill prepared. We're ill prepared for the future. We're ill prepared for where how advanced China's become. We're ill prepared for where AI is taking us. We don't have the, you know, social and government infrastructure to do the rapid kind of changes that we need. You know, people talk about, like a lot of Trump supporters I talk to when I talk about revamping the, the industrial base in America, because that's something I'm really into, is rebuilding factories, right? And getting back to having the ability to create the things that we and the world need because we don't produce most of that stuff anymore. And they say, well, Trump's trying to do that with the tariffs and this and that. And then I try to remind them, problem is, it's so long ago of when we were really ramping up our manufacturing, and that was in the 40s, and that was for World War II. And we were going from field to factory in 18 months. We, we had a Ford plant that went from producing one plane a year to one plane a minute in, like, two and a half years. So, like, there is what we call, like Trump called it during the pandemic called Operation Warp Speed, right? If you think that you're facing an existential crisis because you no longer make the things that you need, you no longer have the value that you had as a nation to the rest of the world, except, like, maybe not bombing people. That's our big value to the world now. Hey, if you're, if you're nice to us, we won't bomb you or we won't put a tariff on you. You know, we used to be exporting cool music, cool clothes, cool cars. We, we made cool stuff. We were like cool kids but now,

[Stephen A. Smith]

Corby, here's my deal. But I got that. I got that. But, but you're Talking about the 40s, 50s, let's go. You got Kennedy's in the. Kennedy and Linda B. Johnson in the 60s. You got Jimmy Carter in the 70s. You know, you got, you had Reagan and H.W. and through the 9th of the 80s decade. I get that part. Clinton in the 90s, okay. Barack Obama in 2008-2016. There have been Democrats in the mix throughout all of this as well. What level of culpability do you attach to them as it pertains to what has transpired in this country in terms of what you might have to complain about? We know how you feel about the other side and what they've done. What about the Democrats?

[Corbin Trent]

I think they're absolutely, I mean, I think there's a party, if you want to call it that. There are certain parts of economics, for example, that are like the mainstream Republicans for decades, and mainstream Democrats didn't have a lot of room between them. Right. It was, we want to ship all the jobs offshore. We want to let the, you know, wherever it's cheaper to get it made, that's where it should go. Right. It's just the way the market works. That was definitely Democrats. You know, I mean, I can remember I was in middle school when Ross Perot was talking about the giant sucking sound of jobs going to Mexico. Right. And people around me were really inspired by Ross Perot's vision of, you know, what was going to happen if we did that and his desire to stop it. So when I tell people how much I loathe the current iteration of the Democratic Party, they sort of don't get why I'm still a Democrat. Right? And I tell them, like, you know, the thing is, though, like, somebody drives by my house and throws a Molotov cocktail in, I'm going to be really mad at those people. Super mad. I want them to go to jail. But if the fire department shows up later and stands there while it's burning and won't put it out, I'm actually going to be even more enraged at the fire department. And for me, the Democratic Party was the fire department. So they saw, you know, all this coming. Maybe they didn't want to see it coming, but it was, you know, it didn't take a genius to see what happens if you give away, like, you know, the funny thing you were mentioned earlier. Communism, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Corbin Trent]

Now, one of the things that we did not want to do about communism is one of the, what is it called? The means of production. Right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes.

[Corbin Trent]

The, the communists wanted to seize the means of production for the people. Now, the crazy thing about the way we've done it over the last 40 years, 50 years, we didn't. Nobody sees that. We actually gave away the means of production to China, to Japan, to India, to Brazil. Like, if the means of production were so powerful that if the people had it, that they would be unstoppable and therefore, you know, communism would override everything and they'd be, you know, this all powerful entity. Why in the heck didn't we keep it? Why didn't we keep the means of production? Why didn't we keep the ability to make our own batteries, our own energy grid, our own transformers, our own water systems? Why do we, why do we let China do that?

[Stephen A. Smith]

But, Corbyn, you do understand what you're saying, though, in a roundabout way. What you're saying is this is how I'm going to interpret it. You could correct me, but the way I'm hearing you, you're holding the Democrats just as, if not more culpable than the gop. But the Progressive Democrats are a different breed, and because of them, they're more aligned with your level of thinking. And that's what. And that's, and that's where you are. I'm thinking along the lines of how is that going to help the Democratic Party? Because you're basically saying, listen, you're almost treating the progressive movement like it's a third party as opposed to a part

[Corbin Trent]

of the Democratic Party, but there's no way to do it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, but I'm saying it can't be. So how is that going to work for you? Because that's a house that divided, and you're certainly not going to do much to galvanize it if you're thinking the way you're thinking. And I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that's not going to serve the purpose of galvanizing one party to make sure that it's more successful than the other.

[Corbin Trent]

So in running our government, 19. So, Steve, what happened in the 1930s after the Depression? So you had a trifecta of Republicans. They had the Senate and they had the presidency. And then in three cycles, six years, it went to a Democratic supermajority. And FDR was going around running against Democrats primary, those Democrats running against them, running them out of the party because they weren't on board with the New Deal, they weren't on board with where things were Going and he was pushing them out. You know, that is what has to happen. So, you know, a lot of times, because, you know, I used to do some consulting and these, these candidates would ask me, how can I stand out? Or how can I be authentic or whatever the heck these people ask you. And I say, well, talk about the party having to be different. Like, if America needs to be different and the Democrats are going to lead us down that road of being different, being better, then they have to be different and they have to be better. I mean, like, I was watching Obama the other day talk about running the circles about how great Obamacare was, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Corbin Trent]

He was doing these videos. It was like the anniversary.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I saw them, I saw them.

[Corbin Trent]

And now what's interesting is for the last year, I've been listening to the Democratic Party tell me that if the enhanced subsidies expire on health care, on Obamacare, then it's going to be a disaster, then it's going to be cataclysmic, horrible economic conditions for Americans. And I'm not disagreeing with that. But what they're talking about happening is us returning to Obamacare. What they're talking about is us going back to the thing that Obama was cheering about four or five days ago. Right. So without that sort of like introspection of like, well, actually, maybe Obama, the Obama, Trump voters, maybe there's a reason they went from Obama to Trump. I was like, the first candidate I ever got pumped about was Obama. I drove for like two hours to watch him speak in 2007. Right. I was like in. I started a. I did a watch party. I've never done any of that. It wasn't my, Wasn't my thing. Right, right. I was watching the elections. I was so excited about candidate Barack Obama. And then I was so disappointed in President Barack Obama. Everything was, yes, we can until they were in. And it was like, ah, we thought we could, but we can't, you know? And, like, I just don't understand why people don't believe in this country more than they do in the people of this country more than they do. And I think when the Democratic Party wakes up and more and more of them are, more and more of these candidates are out there waking up and they're understanding, like, the price of living is beyond our capacity to afford it. It's becoming unsustainable. Something's got to give, right? And you know, Donald Trump, God bless him, he's doing this. He's going around starting wars, kidnapping people, trying to compete with China through that. It's not going to work. China is outperforming us in robotics, they're outperforming us in engineering. Used to be China just copied what we did. Sam Walton famously said in his book Made in America. For a long time, all Walmart had to do was copy Kmart. We didn't have to innovate anything until we got out in front. Right, got it. That's all we had to do. Well, now China's starting to inch out in front in certain places and they're going to be innovating and they're going to be leading. And I'm not saying, you know, like there's this idea that we're going to eventually end up in a war with China. How about we just try to out develop our nations? How about we compete with which people have a better quality of life, which people have more access to health care, which people have more access to housing, which people have more access to time off and travel? You know, that seems like a better competition made and who can shoot more missiles at each other.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Understood. Understood. You live in a deep red rural community. What are you hearing from your neighbors heading into the midterms? And so what do you hear from them?

[Corbin Trent]

I mean, you know, it's interesting because Tennessee was like the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. Right. But it was also the Booth birthplace of a thing called the Highlander center, which trained these people during the civil rights movement. Right. So you've got this sort of bifurcated society in Tennessee. You got both extremes and then you got a lot of people that just don't care one way or another. So it depends on who you talk to, obviously. But you know what I'm hearing, Democrats are just scared of their own shadow around here. Like, I talk to people that don't want to put yard signs in their yard because they're afraid of their neighbors being mean to them. And then you got the MAGA crowd and they're, they'll walk around the red hat on their gun on their hip, you know, so it's a very different. But what I'm hearing is that life's not affordable. People are struggling to get ahead. I mean, I, you know, young people. My daughter's 18, she lives, you know, she's got a shoe shed, lives in the backyard. And she, you know, she makes pretty decent money. She's making like 17 an hour on her part time job while she's in college. But she can't get a place, you know, apartment around here. Studio is 1650 in a rural community. 1650.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah. Makes sense. Makes sense.

[Corbin Trent]

You know, make life better for me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Did you, did you, did you vote for Trump?

[Corbin Trent]

No. No.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You never voted for Trump? Right. I wanted to make sure about that. You. I wanted to make sure. I know I read somewhere, I was like, what? That doesn't make sense. He doesn't sound like somebody that voted for Trump. So. All right, I want to make sure I got that question out of the way. Let me move on from there. You argue that Democrats won't win by just moderating. Then what is the three word message that actually gets working class voters back in your estimation?

[Corbin Trent]

I mean, what are the three words?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Work. 2 words, 3 words, 5 words.

[Corbin Trent]

Work together for America. I mean, I think the. There is so much cynicism and disbelief that we can do things, that our government can do things. There's a disbelief that we have any real control over where we head our direction. Right. And again, like this, I was thinking, I don't know why I was there. I guess because I was going to be talking to you. I was thinking about things through sports. But like imagine a team that didn't have a plan, right? They didn't have a plan for what they're going to do with their season. They didn't know which, you know, they know that their guards good where their talent is. They didn't know what they're. They didn't have any plan whatsoever. And they're just going to go in a season and see what happens. Right. I think that's doomed for failure. And I feel like for a long time we had such a amazing team. America was so far ahead of everybody else that we could win with basically doing nothing. Right. But we've sort of run out of that steam. We don't. We're not that far ahead anymore. We've got bubbles everywhere in our economy. So I think the message is going to land is actually we are going to have to build millions and millions of units of housing. Actually we are going to have to rebuild our manufacturing capacity.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How are you going to pay for them?

[Corbin Trent]

You pay. I would use American dollars, but we can, you know, we can do whatever you want to do, I guess. Crypto. No, you pay for it. Like we've got a 30 trillion dollar economy, you pay for it stuff.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We got 39 trillion in debt. We got 39 trillion of debt.

[Corbin Trent]

Corbin, what did we get with that debt? That's the other thing you got to look at. China's got debt too, but what they built with that debt is a massive industrial base. Robots doing Backflips, you know, the ability to make AI that's competitive with ours much cheaper. They built the ability to have byd, these automotive auto companies that are building the next generation of EVs, you know, so the question, like, Apple's in debt, right? A lot of everybody goes in debt. People that own a house are in debt. Debt's part of it. But the question's not, are you in debt? The question is, what are you doing with your debt? And what we're doing with our debt is getting rich people richer and poor people poor, and that's it. Instead of building something that's useful for everybody else. So there's going to be, you know, like, again, health care, I think is a great place to look. Six trillion dollars a year we spend. Six trillion.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, okay. And let me, Let me.

[Corbin Trent]

Go ahead.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, no, go off chance a finish. Chance to go.

[Corbin Trent]

I was just gonna say. And what we're getting is less and less health care. 80% of American counties are in health care deserts. If more money would fix health care.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I. I don't disagree with you. I just think that Democrats have been a part of the problem, and I don't know how much of a part of the solution they're going to be able to be. They're going to be able to be a part of. With what. What the kind of things that you're proposing. Because it sounds great, but getting people on board to follow that kind of vision, I find very hard to believe. Let me ask you this question. Communications director for aoc, obviously a national strategist for Bernie Sanders. If one of them were in office, instead of a Trump or even an Obama or Biden, what would this country look like?

[Corbin Trent]

I mean, I think if one of them was standing it up, like, if I got to put one in a petri dish or whatever and mix it up, then I would have. I would have somebody that's like 15% Trump, you know, 40% AOC, and then we'll do the rest.

[Stephen A. Smith]

40? Yeah, 40.

[Corbin Trent]

I mean, she's got such a vision of justice, of morality, of courage. She's sharp as a whip. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. She didn't.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know, you do know that she didn't seem that sharp in Germany. I'm not going to hold that against her forever. I'm not gonna hold that against that at all. But when she rolled up, you can't fly across. You can't fly, Corbin. You can't fly across the ocean for an event and then be unprepared for the damn event. That you flew across the ocean to attend. You know, you can't do that. Right. Particularly on a world stage when you're trying to show the world that you're one of the leaders. You know that, right? Yeah.

[Corbin Trent]

Wasn't the best look in the world. But, you know, I think the China question is such a. Especially China, Taiwan. You know, it's something that every American leader has been fumbling with. And they usually just say nonsense is usually what they do. They just spout a bunch of nonsense that says, we're going to kind of protect Taiwan, but we're not going to say that, you know, we're going to do the, you know, the one country, you know, So, I mean, they sort of like, abdicate to the. To the whole diplomatic solution that they've got worked out. Right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Corbin Trent]

Now. And anyway. But, you know, the thing that is useful about Trump is that he has a disdain for the process. He has a disdain for a lot of the institutions, as opposed to a reverence for the institutions. And I think that for us to truly have the forms that we need and have change, then you can't treat every one of these institutions as sacred cows. You know, like, what's ironic to me is that people say there's a revolving door between Wall street and sec. There's a revolving door between pharma and the fda. Right. They know that. Like, for example, I was thinking, you. You know, we were listening to that woman, the. The spokesperson for the White House, talk about how many people Iranians had. Had killed, right? And I was thinking the Sackler family, which was the company that the owners of the company that produced OxyContin, definitely killed more people where I'm from than Iranians did. So just as far as how many Americans are dead because of this person or that person, Sackler family did a lot more death than brought a lot more death to where I'm at.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Before I get on out of here, let me ask you this one last question, because it's on my mind about the Democrats. I think it's safe to say they've been losing, you know, the cultural moderates, economically stressed voters, both of those. I mean, we. We know this. The question that I'd have for you is, what is the heart of truth? The party's message and whether or not it's wrong or the messengers, and it's the messengers that are wrong when it comes to your party. Is it about the message or is it about the messages?

[Corbin Trent]

I think it's about the combination of the two. I think part of the problem is when you have people that are trying to say things they don't believe in. Right. And when you pick people and you try to tell them, here's a bunch of poll tested, you know, focus group tested, stuff that we want you to say. And it doesn't actually align with what they believe about the world, their worldview or their economic ideas or any of that, then you got a problem because then they look like they're full of it. You know, when, when I tell you what I believe, it's easy because I just talk right now. If I tried to be calculating and tell you things that I think you want to hear or things that I think will play well, your audience, then it's going to be harder. You know, like if I try to talk about sports song, I'm gonna stumble around because I don't know nothing about it. Right, right. You know, so I think that's part of the problem. And the biggest problem is that they've still got most of their benchmark thinks that it's going to be our economic problems are going to be solved by the free market. And it's just not going to happen. The free market needs to have more competition than it has. And what's going to compete with United Health Care, Cigna? So you get like four or five companies that just sort of sit around and rake it in. You need somebody to compete with them. And I don't think there's anything big enough, strong enough and more powerful than the American people united to do such a thing. And that means the federal government and our state and local governments.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Co founder, Brand New Congress man was a communication director for Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and the national strategist for Bernie Sanders, Corbin Trent. To the show Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Appreciate your time, man. Thank you so much conversation. Really enjoyed it.

[Corbin Trent]

Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Take care. It's a lot to unpack right there, no doubt about that. And I'm certainly going to do that with the callers and then some up next. So stick around, don't go anywhere. You're listening to live Straight Shooter. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with your calls and more in a minute. What's up, Stephen A. Hope you're having a good one. My name is Tate and I'm from Washington, D.C. i'm a conservative and I just wanted to ask you what you thought about DEI programs. My main issue with these programs is that to adjust for outcomes that could be or could not be because of discrimination, DEI put into practice deliberately discriminates on the basis of race, which we would probably agree is not a good thing. And I was wondering what you think about the status quo of DEI programs right now and what you would do to possibly fix the issues underlying them and provide equal opportunity for all Americans. Thank you so much and I've appreciate that message from the caller. He wrote in or called in siriusxm.com [e-mail] getserious that's where you go to send your voicemail messages when you talk about dei. First order of business, let's be accurate about dei, diversity, equity and inclusion. What bothers me about DEI is that everybody's always looking at black people when it comes to dei, when in fact the biggest beneficiaries of DE have been white women. Similar to affirmative action, if we're being honest. And that annoys me because the benefits to the black community are not anywhere near what you think it is. And we just need to be very, very honest about that. Secondly, ladies and gentlemen, and I say this with all fairness, it's not something I live on, focus on or even talk about very often, but white America has to stop with its resentment and just acknowledge what's really bothering you is fear. The white population at one time in this country was near 90%. And it's dipped continuously throughout the decades. And as we sit here in the year 2026, it's at approximately 57% in dipping. So with all of these immigration issues and what have you, what you're seeing is a society, a white society in the United States of America that's incredibly fearful that the numbers are continuing to dip and before long it won't even be their country because the vast majority of individuals in this nation will be migrants, immigrants, particularly of Hispanic descent. That's your fear. It's respected as far as I'm concerned. I understand that if this is your country and all of a sudden you're losing in numbers and you're losing in influence and cache and ultimately power is something that's going to concern you. I get that. But there's a flip side to this coin that you don't take into consideration as it pertains to the individual's question about dei. When we talk about racial preferences, that's a word you could use. What we could say is it's equaling the playing field. Because for far too long throughout American history, if you were white, you had an upper hand and you had an advantage. And some would even argue that in this very day, you're still arguing whether it's 25, 50, 50 or 50 yards ahead, you still got a head start because the system has dictated that for you. And so an effort to evil even the playing field is not a crime. It's bringing attention to the inequities and the iniquities that were exacted against disenfranchised communities in this country. And that in and of itself is criminal. And it was a crime that was being corrected. Now, this is not what it was in the 60s, and I get that. And times have indeed improved. And the, and the, and the blockages that existed, the roadblocks that existed in the past certainly are not the same now. Let's not act like they've been completely eradicated. We know better. Let's at least acknowledge that. 866-967-6887. That's 86696, POTUS. Back to the phones we go. Let's go to Rob in California. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Rob?

[Caller]

Stephen A. My man, it is so good to hear you. I was so excited when you got on this show. I have followed you in your sports career for years and here's what I've learned. Always loved about you, my friend. Like a lot of us from New Jersey, you're good in a conversation. You're not afraid of discourse. You, you believe what you believe. You were not bored knowing all things. You just have a really good way of taking current events and communicating them, inviting good discourse. And I love it. I agree with you 100% on so many of the things you say. I'm sure you're going to say things I don't agree with and that's okay too because I love it and I love hearing you. We got to get your to a bigger audience and concise. I'd like to address a couple things you started off this great, great, great show with and followed it up with those great, great guests that you had on. Thank you for that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you, man. I appreciate those words. Rob means a lot to me. Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate it. Keep it coming, man. Keep the love coming. I'm here for it. Steve in Michigan, you're live with Stephen A. Talk to me.

[Caller]

Yeah, first, go blue. Hey.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, sir.

[Caller]

I have to say I was going to talk about something else, but I want to say I would consider myself a progressive. And that guy Trent, what a disaster. You know, you asked some questions about, like, what would he say why people should take on progressive. I'd say retract the big beautiful Bill. So the money goes to people who need it. Stop fighting the Saudi, the UAE and Israel's war and save a billion dollars a day. Go after all the money made through graft and insider trading by the Trump administration and Congress. Revise tax laws so that revenue obtained through investments are taxed higher, not less, than those earnings that are done by actually working. And then I would talk about triple up economics. That is good business to raise up the poor kids getting childcare and better public schools. Get kids food on the table and stable housing. Give quality health care to all. Make community college free so you could support jobs that will be needed in certainly 10 years.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Certainly could be. You certainly could be doing that. Instead of paying to spend 800 million or 2 billion a day for a war in the Middle East. You certainly could do that. No doubt. You think? Absolutely.

[Caller]

You bring up the poor, what are they going to do? They're going to spend money on computers, on cars, on groceries, on travel, Raise up the poor. That's the progressive mention that we should be having. That would. I don't even know what that guy talked about.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, I appreciate the call, Steve. Thank you so much. Let's go to the phones. Let's go. Let's keep going to these phones. Let's go to Sean in Missouri. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Sean? How are you?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen. A big fan. I consider myself a constitutional conservative who's a big fan of Mark the Great One, Levin and Ted Koppel. But I have a question for you regarding Mark Wayne Mullen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, sir.

[Caller]

Since you often discuss. Discuss discipline, you know, regarding sports, do you think Mullen's MMA background would make him a tough leader for dhs, or do you think he has a low impulse control, which Rand Paul is what? That's what he said.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Ramp up Rand Paul. Rand Paul highlighted it very astutely. And I think that when he had to be chastised and refrained by Senator Bernie Sanders from going after a union, a Teamsters president that he challenged to a fight on the Senate floor, I don't think that's a good look for him. No doubt about that. But we all make mistakes. And Mark Wayne Mullen, he could be a tough guy, whatever it is, didn't serve in the military, obviously is not a four year college graduate. He graduated from a community college. I don't want to hear anybody else complaining about the education of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson anymore when you consider his education in comparison. But I'm not judging him. I definitely, I think he's a significant upgrade from Kristi Noem. Ain't nobody gonna be worse than her. And I think that, you know, again, tough guy, whatever, following the law of the land, being constitutionally correct and up to par, I think goes a long way. And if he's willing to follow the Constitution, if they're not going to go into people's homes without a search warrant or anything like that, if they're not going to violate people's civil rights, you know, I think that we'll be fine. Now, obviously, you know, you can't run from law enforcement for ICE or anybody or the CBP and then run into a home and think they can't come after you in the home when they saw you run in there. Of course, that stuff, that kind of stuff can't happen. But I do think that you needed somebody that wasn't interested in being a showman and they were interested in getting the job done. And I think it's a chance anyway that that could potentially be him. You know, Christy Gnome was spending millions upon millions of dollars promoting herself, doing commercials featuring her and all of this other stuff that is, it's utterly ridiculous. That kind of stuff can happen. And, oh, by the way, Sean, I'm not trying to get into anybody's personal business. I don't roll like that or whatever, but when you are testifying on Capitol Hill and your husband is in attendance and an elected official ask you whether or not you are having an extramarital affair with a subordinate, simply saying it's a disgusting question while refusing to give an answer. I don't know about the rest of y', all, but if I was her husband, we'd have a problem when I got home. Tell you that right now, we'd have a problem because that woman did not answer that question. She never answered that question. You know what I'm talking about? She was a disaster. And all of that is relevant because anybody's going to be an upgrade to her, including Mark Wayne Mullen. Those are my thoughts. Dave in California, you're live with Stephen A. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Hey, Steve, I tell you what. I, I was listening earlier. I had a couple of things. I'm totally blind, right? And my dad was totally blind. He ran a what's called a drive stand in Illinois. They had the Randolph Shepard act that said they had to hire blind people to do certain work. And other than that, we were supposed to go around with our tin cup and that was it, you know. And so I, I, I, I, I, I have kind of mixed emotions, but I Think everybody needs a chance, you know. And another thing is he was saying that got that last politician, it was on. He was saying something about the Democrats built the highways, if I remember right, and I'm a Democrat. But if I remember right, it was Eisenhower that built federal highway system.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay. All right. Appreciate the call, man. Javier in Texas, you're live with Stephen A. What's going on? Javier?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen A. How you doing, man?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm doing all right. Talk to me.

[Caller]

It's a beautiful day down here in Texas.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, sir. What's going on?

[Caller]

I got a comment on the SAVE Act. Man, there's, there's so much to unpack on that deal. But I mean, first off, I'm going to tell you, I'm a. I'm an independent, but I do lean conservative. I'm down here in South Texas. I love my guns and I love my money, and I don't want anybody to take any part of it. But based on today's politics and the stuff that's going on, man, they're, they're pushing me the other direction, the SAVE Act. You know, I come from a family who would 100% be disenfranchised just by some of the things that they're, you know, introducing out there. But let me play devil's advocate for a second, okay? Number one is how do you, you overcome the 24th Amendment, the fact that it's a polls act. At the end of the day, it can't cost any money to get this id. Secondly, you want to make, you want to make a federal id, let's make a federal id. That's what I make sure that everybody has. It's free to everybody. It's a locally available.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Exactly what I proposed last week. Javier. Javier, I proposed that last week. It shouldn't cost you a dime. It should be free and given to anybody who's a United States citizen. Simple.

[Caller]

And if you do that, then there's no argument against it and everybody wins. I mean, the other thing that kills me is there's no real issue, though. I mean, if you take the 2020 election, five or six states were checked by the AP. How many was it? 50 million people, 475. Possible fraud.0018%. There's no issue. It's completely to disenfranchise a whole section of people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So, Javier, are you telling me you're down in Texas and as a right winger, you about to go left because of what you're seeing?

[Caller]

Let me tell you something. I'm going to vote for. For Mr. Talarico, man. 100%. And I have. I haven't voted Democrats since I was 20 years old.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Wow. Because you're that disgusted with the right.

[Caller]

I am absolutely disgusted with the way it's going, but I'll tell you, I'm not much happier with the. With the left. But, James, I know it's a different deal.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why do you think Telo is different, man?

[Caller]

He. He speaks from the heart. He says the things that are correct. He actually. He actually was in a school down here in San Antonio, and I know some of the people that he knows, and the guy is the real deal, man. He's not a lion person.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, that's good to know. Javier, I appreciate the call, man. Thank you so much. Triple A, Mad dog. Six. I'm sorry. Eight, six, six, nine six, seven. Six, eight, eight, seven. That's eight, six, six, nine. Six. Potus back with your calls to close out the show in a minute. It's straight shooter with yours truly. Don't go away. Gonna end it with y' all in a minute.

[Caller]

So we want to bring out Mr.

[Corbin Trent]

The President, United States in just a moment and thank him for his unwavering

[Caller]

commitment to the American people. And because of that, it is our

[Corbin Trent]

honor, on behalf of all House Republicans,

[Caller]

all of you here, and all patriots across the country, present the very first

[Corbin Trent]

America first award to the 45th and the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Mr. President, come on out.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I think I'm gonna throw up. I mean, I might just vomit. At a time when all of this is going on, talk about being tone deaf. Talk about being detached. This is the Republican Congressional Dinner, and the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is awarding Trump some great American award, some gold statue. It's just so embarrassing. It's so bad. See, this is the problem right here, ladies and gentlemen. It's the fawning of this person. That's why you can't trust anything, because it's like, it's a requirement to kiss his ass. You can't just do your job. It has to be. I mean, they could get him a cup of coffee. And before handing in the cup of coffee, everything is, thank you for your great service to the American people, Mr. President. Thank you for being the great leader that you are or whatever. It's embarrassing when you see Pete Hagseth acting like he doing Saturday morning on Fox News. Instead of being the Defense Secretary, the Secretary of War. That's where it comes from. When you saw Chris Christy Noem kissing his behind at Every turn applauding him. When you hear Pam Bondi doing the same thing, it's embarrassing. He's the President. He's not God. He's not God. I'm waiting for somebody to literally say he's God. You can't just. He can't just do the job. You got to literally kiss his ass at every turn. That's what I'm talking about. The fawning. Do the job. Just do your job. 8 6, 6, 9 9, 6, 7 6, 887 8, 6, 69 6. POTUS Justin in Colorado. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen, thank you so much for taking my call. I got a slightly different take on this voter ID registration thing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Caller]

I don't think we really need it, But I'm absolutely 100% here for it. And let me tell you why. When I was a kid, you know, I was. I'm a, I'm a millennial. When I was a kid, we had. We had this rock the vote. And everybody's vote needs to count. Everybody needs to get out and vote. And what I've Learned over my 50 plus years of life is that there are a bunch of ignorant mofos that go out and vote just to vote. They have zero clue what they're voting on. All they do is they vote on either a. On party lines or be what they're told. They. They do not look at the issues. They don't even care about the issues. They're literally just voting because somebody told them to vote.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, so what does that have to do with the SAVE Act?

[Caller]

Well, they. This. Okay, what it would do is that you're talking disenfranchising voters. I think it would disenfranchise the lazy people that, that are not. That, that don't want to do their homework, that don't want to go out of their way.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay. Okay. So time. I touched it. Time adjusted. You do realize what you're saying, right? You're saying that even the American citizen, some of them, don't deserve to vote. That's what you're saying.

[Caller]

I, I agree. Yeah. I think you can't.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You can't. You can't be an American citizen who swears you believe in the Constitution in the United States and feel that way. Justin, regardless of how he.

[Caller]

Liberty, man.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me, Let me tell you what are you a conservative?

[Caller]

Eileen? Conservative? I'm very. Liberty.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm getting to a point. I'm getting to a point. So a friend of mine, a guy that I know pretty well, is Mark Levin, conservative radio host. You've heard that name, right?

[Caller]

I've heard of him. I don't really pay much attention.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I understand, I understand. Well, let me tell you, you need to because he's smart as a whip whether you like him or not. I don't agree with him sometime, but I'll never tell you he doesn't know what he's talking about because he does. Let me tell you what Mark Levin told me years ago and I never forgot as long as I live. He said, I don't give a damn what you know as an American citizen. The voter goes to the poll and votes based on the one issue they care about. Don't let them tell you differently. If you pro choice or pro life, that's your issue. If you pro immigration, against immigration, that's your issue. If you're pro economy or against the economy, that's your issue. He said you pro military, against military, that's your issue. He said that's why people go to the polls. They don't go to the polls knowledgeable about every issue. They have the issue they care about most and that decides their vote. So Justin and I have never met a pundit or a commentator who didn't acknowledge that to be true. So if that's the reality, man, then that's the reality. That's not a reason to say people shouldn't vote because it's not about what you know, it's about what you care to know. And a lot of people don't care about other issues. A lot of people don't mind that the economy is struggling. They like I've been broke anyway, what difference does it make to me while others care a great deal about it, everybody has their own issue. And as long as you have that issue that you care about, Justin, that's all that should matter.

[Caller]

A hundred percent. I agree with that. But people don't leave those other boxes blank.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, you're not, you vote for people. You're not voting on issues. Most of the time you're voting for people and that's what you got to remember. I gotta go though. I appreciate the call. John in Connecticut. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Yes, Hi, Stephen A. Hi there. I wanted to just say that on the, on the SAVE act, the big thing is the registration. I have no problem just showing my driver's license when I go to vote, that's not a problem. But when you have to go and either have a birth certificate or a passport to re register and also the chaos that's going to cause because they had a guy on the radio yesterday from Arizona, who was the head of the, of the registrar voters in a small county. But he said, look, we still have 50,000 people in our county that want to vote. He said, I've got two people in this, in this office with me and if you tried to tell me now that I had to re register 50,000 people before the elections so it couldn't be done, okay, it would be nothing but chaos.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I got you. I appreciate your perspective. I understand your point. We can talk about that all day, every day, but I just don't have the time to because I got to get out of here in the next few seconds. I want to thank everybody for listening to today's show. I really, really appreciate it. Sorry I wasn't able to get to even more callers. I got to change that because I like talking to the callers and I need to talk to y' all a lot more, to be quite honest with you. That's what I enjoy most. Thanks again to Representative Donovan McKinney. Thanks again to former National Strategist and Communications Director Mr. Corbin Trent. Hope y' all enjoyed this week's edition of Straight Shooting with Stephen. A holla at y'.

[Corbin Trent]

All.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Next Wednesday night, 6:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Until then, peace of love, everybody. God bless. Be safe.

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