Full Show: Stephen A explains "WOKE” culture, immigration, economy & Biden doomed Kamala, not Trump.

Summary

Summary of The Stephen A. Smith Show Episode: "Stephen A explains 'WOKE’ culture, immigration, economy & Biden doomed Kamala, not Trump"

Release Date: November 10, 2024

In this compelling episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, host Stephen A. Smith delves deep into the dynamics that led to Donald J. Trump's remarkable re-election as the 47th President of the United States. Smith dissects the multifaceted issues surrounding the election, emphasizing that it was not Kamala Harris or the Democratic Party that undermined her campaign, but rather systemic challenges within the Democratic strategy itself.

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1. Trump's Historic Comeback

Timestamp: 01:14 – 10:00

Smith opens the episode by acknowledging the unexpected and monumental comeback of Donald Trump, describing it as "the greatest comeback probably in American history" despite Trump's tumultuous past, including "34 felony counts, two impeachments, six bankruptcies." He underscores Trump's resilience and tenacity, traits he believes are essential in leadership.

Stephen A. Smith (01:14): "Donald Trump's return to the White House is the greatest comeback probably in American history."

Smith attributes Trump's victory to his focused campaign on pivotal issues such as the economy and immigration, which resonated with voters disillusioned by the Democratic administration's handling of these areas.

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2. The Economy: A Central Concern

Timestamp: 10:00 – 20:00

A significant portion of Smith’s analysis centers on the economy. He highlights how Trump's emphasis on combating inflation and revitalizing the economy struck a chord with voters struggling with the diminishing value of their dollars.

Stephen A. Smith (15:45): "Trump locked in on inflation and how the value of our dollar had diminished before our very eyes."

Smith criticizes the Democratic narrative that dismissed economic hardships, arguing that tangible financial struggles of everyday Americans overshadowed any optimistic reports about economic improvements.

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3. Immigration: Border Control as a Deciding Factor

Timestamp: 20:00 – 30:00

Smith shifts focus to immigration, condemning the Biden administration's policies for leading to over 12 million illegal migrants entering the country. He asserts that this surge exacerbated public frustration and fear, directly impacting voter sentiment against Kamala Harris.

Stephen A. Smith (25:30): "The right was able to look at our streets being overcrowded... and they had him."

He contrasts Biden’s approach with Obama’s, noting that despite Obama deporting more illegal immigrants, Biden's open-border stance was politically disastrous.

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4. Woke and Cancel Culture: Alienating the Electorate

Timestamp: 30:00 – 40:00

Smith critiques the Democratic Party's entanglement with "woke" and cancel culture, arguing that it alienated moderate and independent voters. He points to high-profile endorsements and messages from celebrities like Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey, which he believes backfired by putting Democrats at the mercy of progressive extremes.

Stephen A. Smith (35:20): "If you don't agree with you, we're against you. Who's going to go for that in a general election?"

Smith contends that these cultural battles overshadowed substantial policy discussions, making the Democratic platform seem disconnected from the average American's priorities.

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5. Kamala Harris's Campaign Missteps

Timestamp: 40:00 – 50:00

Delving into Kamala Harris's defeat, Smith outlines several critical missteps, including her lack of a primary battle which left her untested and less resonant with voters. He criticizes her performance in interviews, especially her inability to effectively answer tough questions, which diminished her credibility.

Stephen A. Smith (45:15): "She never had a chance because too many American citizens are too disgusted with what they see from the extreme left."

Smith also highlights the Democratic Party's failure to offer a robust and appealing alternative, leaving voters feeling that the party had lost touch with their needs and concerns.

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6. Expert Commentary: Bill O'Reilly's Insights

Timestamp: 50:00 – 60:00

In a notable segment, conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly joins the show to reinforce Smith’s analysis. O’Reilly echoes sentiments about the economic struggles driving voters towards Trump and criticizes Kamala Harris’s lack of a substantive economic plan.

Bill O’Reilly (35:30): "Kamala Harris made one enormous mistake. She didn't answer any questions."

O’Reilly underscores the importance of strong leadership and decisiveness, traits he attributes to Trump, contrasting them with what he perceives as Harris’s indecisiveness and lack of clear policy direction.

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7. Listener Engagement: Audience Calls

Timestamp: 60:00 – 75:00

Smith engages with listeners through several calls, addressing concerns about the economy, immigration, and rising crime rates. One caller from Los Angeles emphasizes the need for a balanced approach to immigration without blanket deportations, reflecting the nuanced viewpoints among the electorate.

Listener (55:40): "I hate the fact that Trump came across on too many occasions being that loose with his tongue when it came to immigrants crossing our borders."

Another caller from New York seeks advice on maintaining unity and hope within diverse communities post-election, prompting Smith to advocate for faith in America’s democratic institutions and resilience.

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8. Concluding Remarks: Acceptance and Moving Forward

Timestamp: 75:00 – End

In his closing remarks, Smith reiterates the inevitability of accepting the electoral outcome while urging for constructive engagement moving forward. He stresses the importance of addressing the underlying issues that led to Trump’s victory—economy, immigration, and cultural divisions—to prevent similar outcomes in future elections.

Stephen A. Smith (73:20): "Donald Trump is in the White House. The Republicans control the Senate and likely the House. ... America has spoken."

Smith calls for strategic introspection within the Democratic Party to realign with centrist values and better address the electorate’s core concerns.

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Key Quotes and Timestamps

• Trump’s Resilience:

  "Donald Trump's return to the White House is the greatest comeback probably in American history." (01:14)

• Economic Focus:

  "Trump locked in on inflation and how the value of our dollar had diminished before our very eyes." (15:45)

• Immigration Impact:

  "The right was able to look at our streets being overcrowded... and they had him." (25:30)

• Woke Culture Critique:

  "If you don't agree with you, we're against you. Who's going to go for that in a general election?" (35:20)

• Campaign Missteps:

  "She never had a chance because too many American citizens are too disgusted with what they see from the extreme left." (45:15)

• Expert Insight from Bill O'Reilly:

  "Kamala Harris made one enormous mistake. She didn't answer any questions." (35:30)

• Final Acceptance:

  "America has spoken." (73:20)

---

Conclusion

This episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show provides a thorough and incisive analysis of the 2024 presidential election, attributing Donald Trump's victory to his unwavering focus on economic revival and stringent immigration policies, while critiquing the Democratic Party's flawed strategies and overreliance on progressive and celebrity endorsements. Smith, supported by Bill O’Reilly’s commentary, calls for the Democratic Party to recalibrate towards more centrist and pragmatic policies to reconnect with the broader electorate. Through engaging listener calls, Smith further explores the pressing concerns of everyday Americans, emphasizing the need for effective leadership and policy solutions in the face of economic and social challenges.

Transcript

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[Greg Rosenthal]

What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th.

[Bill O'Reilly]

President.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And every citizen. I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you. And with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America. That's what we have to know. Even in the world of sports, we have never, ever seen a comeback of this magnitude. On this particular day, no matter how much we might not like it, we all got to stand down and give props to the 47th President of the United States. It's just the truth. I'll tell you why and how it happened in a minute. Stephen A. Smith show what's up everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. Coming at you, as I love to do at the very least three times a week over the digital airwaves of YouTube. As always, I like to pause and take a moment to give props and and major, major gratitude to my subscribers and followers. We've now eclipsed more than 896,000 subscribers on this YouTube channel. This YouTube show, the Stephen A. Smith Show. Can't thank y'all enough. Wouldn't be here, wouldn't be succeeding if it were not for you. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Keep the love coming and I'm gonna keep on coming and that also applies to the folks at iHeartRadio as well, listening to me because we've got over 3 million downloads over the last few months or so. Again, thank you so much to continue to like and follow the show. Just click the bell and you too could be the latest member of the Stephen A. Smith show family. You'll get all of our new content there. While you're at it, make sure to get a copy of my New York Times bestselling book, Straight Shooter, a Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, now in paperback. Just go to straightshooterbook.com to get yourself a copy. Once again at straightshootsabook.com to get yourself a copy. Let's get started with politics. That's where we've got to go, because there's no other place to start today other than the reelection of Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States of America. Trump's victory was called early this morning. Needing 270 electoral college votes, he finished the evening with 292 to win the White House. Trump's reelection is a crushing blow to Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party that relied on a number of issues that ultimately fell flat with the American public, evidently. I'll get to the Democrats in a moment. But let's put Donald Trump's victory in perspective. He reclaimed the White House with a unique campaign that relied heavily on a voter turnout operation that focused on one familiar the economy. In addition to that, the president elect managed to peel votes away from once reliable Democratic support groups such as the Latinos and, of course, black men. If you look at that number right there in the CNN exit polls, the Hispanic vote for Trump increased by 13% from what it was in 2020 when he lost to President Joe Biden with the black community. According to that same CNN poll, it increased by 5%. And obviously, when you hear 5%, you're automatically going to deduce that it was black men that ultimately hurt Kamala Harris. I tend to focus on the 13% because I think that when you are Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, that's really, really what we have to do as we take a look, a close look as to what transpired. I'm going to say this before I get into any of that. Donald Trump's return to the White House is the greatest comeback probably in American history. 34 felony counts, two impeachments. I can't count the number of mistakes that he has made when he departed in 2020 after the insurrection at the United States Capitol. We all thought he was finished. He was done. He went back to his hub at Mar A Lago in Florida and the next thing you know, plotted a return to the White House. That regardless of what they tried to throw in his direction, nothing worked. Nothing worked. Now, we could say what we want about his policies, whatever they may be. We could say what we want about his character, whatever you want to say. But when you think about leaders, one of the primary elements you're looking for from them is fight. Are you somebody that has alligator skin and a level of intestinal fortitude that few can rival? So when you got to go into the lion's den and deal with adversity, you're more than capable of doing so. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know if any of us can can definitively say we could deal with what Donald Trump did, dealt with and still end up back in the White House. He was definitely helped by Joe Rogan's endorsement in the wee hours before the election began or before election day began, that played a role. He had some celebrities supporting him. I don't think that played much of a role. But ultimately, his focus on the economy and inflation ravaging us all, combined with the border issues, immigration, and over 11 to 12 million migrants entering the country illegally, and focusing on that, I thought that there were certain things that he did that were nothing short of brilliant. Now, I have been on the record stating on several occasions, the economy was one thing. I just talked to you about that. Immigration was another. I just talked to you about that. What about crime in the streets? When you look at New York City, when you look at Los Angeles, when you look at the fact that people were being arrested and the same day they were put in jail, they were getting out, and there seemed to be no punitive damage that was being suffered by those who were inflicting harm upon American citizens. What about that? Okay. And then we have to pay attention to woke culture and the cancel culture. Think about the commercials that Donald Trump was showing. Think about the commercials that involve Charlemagne, Tha God and the Breakfast Club. When they kept playing footage of Kamala Harris saying she was in support of transgender operations taking place even for those incarcerated while incarcerated. Think about that. Think about how they leaned on her appearing on the View. And when the View, a liberal outlet very supportive of Kamala Harris, asked her a simple question of what, if anything, she would do differently from Joe Biden, she said there was nothing she could think of. These are the kind of things that I think hurt her. Okay. But I also lean on woke culture and cancel culture for this reason as well. They also brought up how somebody transitioning from being a male to a female were competing against women and young ladies, knowing that they were an abundance of people, not just on the right, but independents, who would not support that. They weren't gonna support that. They looked at something like that and they said, what the hell is wrong with us? They harkened back to years ago when you had people getting in trouble because instead of saying him or her or he or she, if you didn't say they, it was a violation. And ultimately that could get you in some kind of trouble at some point in time. People were looking at those things. Now, some people would say that had nothing to do with the outcome of last night's election. I beg to differ. But ultimately, what it does come down to is this. With all of those things transpiring, it gave the impression that the Dems were at the mercy of the progressives on the extreme left, which forced folks in the center to lean right and forced the right to harden their stances even more. And what did you see as a result? There was no blue wall, ladies and gentlemen. Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, et cetera. No, they talked all evening that if North Carolina and Georgia went to Donald Trump, the only way Kamala Harris would have a chance to win the election is if she lost. If she won Pennsylvania and she lost that, too. I expected a tough, tight race. What we witnessed was an annihilation. Annihilation. This was supposed to last, this debate about the election and how many votes. It was supposed to last probably until Thursday, Friday, maybe even into the weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, Fox News called it at 2am 2am we knew that Donald Trump had won back the White House. It was that kind of a romp, that kind of an annihilation. There are many, many things to insult Donald Trump about. There are many times we could have done it in the past. We can't do it today. There ain't a damn thing we can say. America has spoken. The Republicans have the White House. They have the Senate. By the way, they won back the Senate. They flipped it and they're probably going to retain the House. They had it from 2017 to 2019. They got it back again. America has spoken. America has spoken. By the way, look at this cover on vanity of Vanity Fair. Please take a look at this with Trump's face. 34 felony counts, one conviction, two cases pending, two impeachments, six bankruptcies, four more years, and the 47th American president for the United States of America. What do you say? What do you say? Now, let's take a closer look at the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris, who was thrust into the race with less than 110 days to secure the White House. Harris called Donald Trump this afternoon. The race to the president elect, by the way, that's something that Trump never did four years ago when he lost to Joe Biden in 2020. But let's talk about Harrison, her overall performance in this election. Okay. In fairness, I don't think anybody should be laying the party's loss at her feet. I'm going to say that up front. Okay. There were missed opportunities from the White House and the Democratic Party, no doubt, But I'm not going to lay it at her feet. Before I even get into it. Here's a look at my top five reasons again why the Democratic Party lost this presidential election. Look at it for yourself. The economy, immigration, crime, the woke culture. That last one, no primary candidate. Okay, let me go down the list. I already brought up how she missed opportunities. Remember when y'all got on me because I was sitting here talking about how she needed to go to make herself available and go out there and enter enemy territory and go out there and do interviews that wasn't rife with flags. Fluff. Remember I said that? Remember I said that Donald Trump was pointing to the war between Ukraine and Russia or the Israeli Palestinian conflict involving Hamas and Hezbollah? Remember I brought up all of that. And I said that Trump will literally use that and engage in some degree of chauvinism because he's going to say, I'm here. I'm doing interviews with everybody. Where is she at? Remember that? And then suddenly everybody caught on eventually. I've been saying all along she couldn't avoid it. You're the vice president of the United States. You should be on top of all of these issues. You should be ready to do interviews as a moment's notice. I'm not saying she didn't know the issues. I think she was overly sensitive to not coming across as if she threw Joe Biden under the bus. But here's the thing. Did Joe Biden deserve to be thrown under the bus? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Let me tell you why. In 2020, he wins election when he wins the election in 2020, Joe Biden promised to be a transitional president. He called himself a stopgap, an individual that was looking to pave the way for future candidates coming down the pike. He knew that come time for reelection, he would be 81, approaching 82 years of age. He knew that. What's he gonna do, stay in office till 86? He gave us the impression that wasn't what he was going to do. What did he did after? What he did was the midterms came about and it was supposed to be some red wave with a bunch of Republicans winning seats in a Senate and in the House. It didn't happen. So because of that, since he was the incumbent, he was feeling himself, because look at how many seats were retained or captured by the Democrats. And as a result, he could stay in office, he could stay in power, and he decided he wasn't going to walk away. And when he decided he wasn't going to walk away, all hell broke loose, because we saw health debilitating his fastball, per se, not necessarily being there. And if we saw it on June 27 when he went on the stage to debate against Donald Trump, they damn sure saw it beforehand. They saw it, but they couldn't tell us because they weren't going to dime him out. So it's all able to be deduced at this particular moment in time. They knew what was coming on. They knew what was going on. They weren't going to dime him out. They weren't going to expose him like that. So they let him expose himself on the debate stage. Then three and a half weeks later, he ultimately stepped away and she became the presumptive Democratic nominee. But what also came with that. What also came with that was these kids were greased, and the American public didn't like that, because in this nation, we like competition. We want to see him in a primary than we would have knew before June 27th. He wasn't ready. And if you're not gonna see him, you wanted to see her in a primary. But that didn't happen, because by the time he stepped away, it was too late to entertain Dean Phillips or anybody else as a potential Democratic nominee. So as a result, the road was paved for her to go up against Trump unabated. That's what happened, ladies and gentlemen. You may not like hearing it, but that's what happened. That, however, didn't play nearly as big of a role as two things. Number one, the economy, black folks and minorities. You know what our definition of a good economy is? The value of our dollar and the dollars in our pocket. We don't want to hear inflation ain't the same. It's dipped 2%. If we can't tell when we go to the gas station, when we go to buy some milk and bread, when we go to the grocery store to buy groceries. If we can't tell, we don't want to hear shit about an economy that's improving. Where's the evidence? Trump locked in on inflation and how the value of our dollar had diminished before our very eyes. He didn't bring up his role in it prior to Biden arriving. Smart of him not to, but nevertheless, he focused on that. And the Democrats wouldn't acknowledge but so much how bad it truly, truly was. But that all pales in comparison to immigration. Why is immigration so important? Because from the moment Biden got in office, he opened the floodgates. There was no wall built. There was no lines of demarcation to prevent folks from coming across the border. He opened the borders because he was capitulating to the extreme left, damn near his first week in office with a bunch of executive orders. And as a result of that reality, you had people fresh off of trying to overcome all the noise and the chaos that Trump had created to go into. Oh, damn. What is this about? That is what happened. He opened the borders. And you know what made it even worse? When Biden opened the borders, ladies and gentlemen, it was exactly what Obama didn't do. Obama didn't advertise it. But did you know that Obama deported more illegal immigrants than Trump did? Obama deported so many folks, they called him the deporter in chief. That's what they said about him. That was a Democrat in office who did it and was still popular amongst liberals. So you're Biden. Why would you go against that and do the polar opposite? Yet he did. And as a result, the right was able to look at our streets being overcrowded and any immigrant damn near caught getting a ticket for some reason or another was highlighted and illuminated. See what they're doing to our country. And you sort of backdrop. And it didn't even have to be true. It didn't matter. You sort of backdrop. And then you looked at the streets of Los Angeles, the streets of New York City, San Francisco, let's not forget that. And you said, is that what you want your country to look like? Is that what you want? Taxpayer money, funding? And they had him. That with Biden's slippage, there was no way in hell he was going to beat Trump. So here comes Kamala Harris and her moment in the sun is to acknowledge that and to veer left or right, rather, and go on an entirely different path than Biden was going. And she didn't do it. That was point number two. Let me tell you what point number three. Was all these celebrities. Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Oprah. The list went on and on and on. Let me tell you what the problem with all of that was. Let's not forget LeBron James, even though he just put out a tweet. Let me tell you what the problem with that was. Michelle Obama given a speech in Kalamazoo where she skillfully and brilliantly detailed reproductive rights. Wasn't talking about abortion. She was talking about reproductive rights for women. Fair enough. But then she added a line by saying a vote for him was a vote against us. Don't believe what I'm saying. Take a listen. We are the ones with the knowledge and experience to know what we need. So please, please, do not hand our fates over to the likes of Trump, who knows nothing about us, who has shown deep contempt for us because a vote for him is a vote against us, against our health, against our worth. You see what Michelle Obama said right there? I'm here to tell you that I believe if Michelle Obama was running, she would have won this election by a landslide. She's that popular. She's that skilled. She's a brilliant orator. She's a wonderful woman. The greatest first lady I think this country has ever seen. But when she added that line, how you think American citizens felt? So, in other words, if we don't agree with you, we're against you. It didn't affect me because I'd already voted for Kamala Harris. Might not have affected most women, maybe some. How'd you think the men felt about that? So we have to do what you tell us to do. Otherwise, we're anti. You thought that worked. Do y'all know anything about most men? Think that's gonna work? How about this one from Oprah? Take a listen. If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again. And let me be very clear. If you do not make sure that the people in your life can get to the polls, that is a mistake. Deciding not to decide that is most definitely a vote to let other people control your future. Civil Rights act of 1964, Voting Rights act of 1965. Been in place since 1965. That's spanning more than 60, nearly 60 years. Okay? And you're going to look an audience in the face and you're going to tell them that if you vote for Donald Trump, you may not ever be able to cast a vote again. Who believed that? Who believed that? Coming from Oprah? Truly. Who believed that this is the kind of stuff that alienates an electorate, that alienates a vote or a voter, because the freedom that you tell them they have, you try to confiscate morally by letting them know you ain't worth a damn unless you vote the way we say you should vote. Who's going to go for that in a general election with an economy rife with inflation, with over 12 million people coming across the borders, with people wondering about their dollars, the dollars that they earn, the dollars that they have in their pocket, the value of that dollar dissipating before our very eyes. But in the same breath, you're telling them that you got to take even more money out of their pocket to finance immigrants that come across the border illegally at the behest of the Democratic Party looking to secure voting block. Did you think that would work? Did you think that would work? Ladies and gentlemen, Kamala Harris wasn't perfect, but she worked her, you know what? Off to try to make this happen. And to be quite honest with you, she. She didn't do too much that was wrong. I actually feel sorry for her because she busted her tail and did all that she could in those 110 days that she had available to her. She might, could have done some things differently. Fine, but she put in that work. But what we learned last night is that she never had a chance because too many American citizens are too disgusted with what they see from the extreme left, who are the progressives who apparently hijacked the Democratic Party and lead them and pulled them so far to the left that they felt hell. Even if it is Donald Trump, at least that would be closer to us recognizing the country that we live in as opposed to what we've been subjected to. And in the end, celebrities who are worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, who most American citizens feel are incredibly detached from their way of life and their quality of life. We're not going to get away in guilting them into doing something different than what their experience says is going on and what they should do about it. That's what happened, ladies and gentlemen. That's just the truth. Coming up, much more on the election and what many are calling the greatest political comeback in American history. The one and only Bill O'Reilly is on deck and he's got his reaction to Donald Trump's election as the 47th President of the United States. I can't wait to hear what he has to say. I don't think you should wait either. Stick around. Stephen A. Smith show coming right back at you. Okay, everybody, you Know what time it is? It's time for Stephen A. Sports Picks. Everyone already knows I live and breathe sports. But sometimes that's not enough and I need to be right there in the middle of all action. So how do I solve that problem exactly? I'll tell you how. I use Prize Picks, of course. You see, Prize Picks is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in all the land with over 3 million members. With prize picks, you just choose two, three or even up to six of your favorite players and then pick more or less on their projected stats for the game. Choose all the players you love to watch. Brock Purdy, Anthony Davis and Seth Jones, all in the same entry. And get this. Sign up with code SAS and prize picks will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive a $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a $5 lineup on prize picks and you'll get $50 instantly. Now let's look at my winning picks. Okay, today I'll be picking players for this Thursday's NFL games. All right, let's look at who we picked. First up, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson going up against the Cincinnati Bengals defense more or less than 234 and a half passing yards. Okay, listen, Cincinnati's defense has been suspect, so that alone is a reason to go more with Lamar Jackson. But here's another incentive for this, okay? Joe Burrow and those brothers can put up some points with Jamar Chase, with T. Higgins and the rest of the crew, they could put up some points. What you think Lamar Jackson gonna do? Just stand still and do nothing? Of course he's gonna step up. He's gonna handle his business. He's gonna rise to the challenge because that's what he does. The two time league mvp. The reigning MVP of the league. That's what Lamar Jackson does. So I'm going with more on this. More than 234 and a half passing yards for Lamar Jackson. All right, let's throw that into the equation. Next up, Zay Flowers vs. Cincinnati. Wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens. More or less than 62 and a half receiving yards. Okay. For the same exact reasons I just gave you about Lamar Jackson. Got to have somebody to throw the football to. It ain't all about handling the ball off to Derrick Henry. Even though that is a nice option. I'm going to go with more than 62 and a half receiving yards for Zay Flowers in this one. Next up, let's see what else you got here. Okay, Biggles quarterback Joe Burrow up against the Ravens defense more or less than 267 and a half passing yards. Okay, I just told you what Joe Burrow can do. I just told you who he's got to do it with. Jamar Chase T. Higgins. These are some bad brothers. Okay. And they got some other weapons as well. I'm going to go with more for Joe Burrow on this one. Two more than 267 and a half passing yards. Okay, keeping my eyes on that. Finally, Bengals wide receiver Jamar Chase. Okay, against the Ravens defense more or less than 82 and a half receiving yards. It's a little bit. That's dicey. That's dicey. He's more than capable of doing it, but sometimes he's a decoy so they can give it to other cats. I'm still going to say in this particular game with the Ravens suspect secondary at times, I'm going to go with more than 82 and a half receiving yards for Jamar Chase as well. So let's recap to go over all of my selections here. Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrows, Zay Flowers and Jamar Chase. More on all of them. Why? Because we're talking prospects, that's why. And they love it when I say more because that means more money in more people's pockets, which makes them want to participate with prospects even more. You feel me?

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[Hunter]

Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting Black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson. As she drove toward Galvez, she was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission. Save Our Girls. Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. My next guest is a conservative political commentator, actually Mr. Independent. That's what I call him. He's a phenomenal media personality and a best selling author. He also happens to be a friend of the program. The man, the one I call the father of cable television himself, the one and only Bill O'Reilly is on the show right now. What's going on? Big time. How are you, sir? How's everything? It's good to see you.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, I'd be the grandfather of cable. I think I'm getting old in dog ears here.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right, that's your words, not mine.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Now, I sent you Confronting the President's my number one New York Times bestseller. I know you did one or two things. You either read it or you sold it on ebay because I signed it. Which one was it?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Neither. I haven't read it yet, but I have it by my bedside and I'm getting ready to read it. Bill O'Reilly, I keep telling you that I'm just a very busy man.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Work up to it. I understand that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hey, listen, let's get right to it.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Read a chapter on Grover Cleveland because that's who Donald Trump is. He's Grover now.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, listen, I'm going to do that. Let me just get right to it because I know you're a busy man. I really appreciate you making time out of your busy schedule. Okay. The results are what they are. I am shocked that it was a romp. I expected Trump to win even though I voted for Kamala Harris. I'm on the record saying that. But it was a romp. He won decisively the popular vote as well as the electoral college. Why did that happen, Bill?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Because people are suffering economically. The working people, the non ideologues. See, the problem is that in America, we in the media think that everybody believes the way we do and they don't. Most people aren't engaged in politics. They lean in once in a while, take a look, but they're not living it 24 hours a day. They'll do sports and you know that I mean, or they'll have golf with their hobbies or whatever it may be. And I believe, and I think it'll bear out on exit polling that most Americans who voted against Kamala Harris really voted against President Biden. Because under Biden, who's the second worst president on our country's history. Purchasing power for workers declined dramatically, almost 9% in three and a half years. So people are looking around going, I don't have any money. I got humongous insurance, fuel and food bills. And four years ago I wasn't in the circumstance, so I'm gonna go back to Trump no matter what they say about him. And that's what I think happened.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I get where you're coming from with that, but we just saw articles at least as recently as a week ago where they were saying the economy is in good shape, inflation is down. What you've been hearing is not necessarily the truth. Truth, I mean, was that all smoke and mirrors? Is that a smokescreen?

[Bill O'Reilly]

No, but it doesn't matter. The damage is still in play. When, when inflation comes down, it doesn't mean prices come down. It means that inflation doesn't grow as much. So the American worker, the average guy and gal, is paying 20% more for the essentials alive. And that has not moved. And Trump promised to move it down by taking out the regulations the Biden administration put on the fossil fuel industry, thereby driving costs for transportation, gas and oil down. And that resonated among workers. Trump had a plan. What was Kamala Harris economic plan? Zero. Because she didn't have a plan for anything. And she was not a good candidate.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And when you say she wasn't a good candidate, what I look at, Bill, is this. The economy obviously was one issue. Immigration had to be another. Crime in the streets of America definitely had to be another. I think woke and cancel culture played a role as well. But possibly the other thing that may come to mind, Bill, is that she didn't have to, you know, she didn't go through a primary. Obviously, Joe Biden escaped the primary. He ultimately bowed out after his poorest performance. On June 27, she was elevated to being a Democratic nominee without competition. Those are the kind of things that I was hearing leading up to the election. What say you to all of that? What role did that play in her demise?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Voters didn't care about that one bit. They didn't care about it. So Kamala Harris made one enormous mistake. She didn't answer any questions. So she goes on Fox News and Bret baier asks her 10 questions and she doesn't answer one of them. Just goes wandering into the middle class home and all this other business. Now you're a sportscaster and you interview people every day of your life and so do I. If I ask a direct question in the no spin zone and somebody doesn't answer the Interview halts, I stop the interview and go, did you not understand the question? Should I pose it again? And if you don't want to answer, can you tell me why Barrett didn't do that, but he should have. But anybody watching Kamala Harris on the trail knows she wasn't going to answer any questions because she was a rehearsed candidate, she was a machine candidate. She didn't have enough confidence in her own abilities to articulate problem solving, fell back on memorization. Now, the woman is excellent in front of the camera. I predict she's going to wind up on the View. She'll be in showbiz in some capacity while she waits for the next political opening. But she absolutely insulted, I think people watching those interviews by failing to answer the questions. Enormous mistake.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Was it her or is it the Democratic Party believing that that was the route she needed to take? And obviously she was following suit because she was in no position. She was in no position to shove aside what they wanted though, right?

[Bill O'Reilly]

They believed that she could win doing what Biden did in 20, which basically staying in house, not going out. Warren Harding in 1920, as you will learn when you reconfirring, the presidents did the same thing and he won and Biden won. So the party said, yeah, we don't really have to answer these stinking questions, we can just evade. But when you are a candidate that is new to people, they don't know you, you've got to define yourself. And Kamala Harris certainly did not do that. There was no emotional attachment to the vice president.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We saw Oprah Winfrey speak. We saw Jennifer Lopez speak. We saw Michelle Obama give her speech, particularly in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a little over a week ago, about 10 days ago or so. We saw a plethora of well known figures speaking out on behalf of Kamala Harris. And some alluded to her not receiving the level of support that she deserves, including former President Barack Obama. They said it must be some form of misogyny. They didn't come out and say that word, but they certainly alluded to that. What role, if any, do you believe that played in the lack of support she received in this election?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Zero.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Zero.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, I mean, that's the same old stuff. You know, she didn't win because she's a woman or she was a South Asian or an African American. It's a bunch of bull. If the American public believed that Kamala Harris could improve their economic circumstance, she certainly would have won by a big margin because Donald Trump's a very controversial person. And if There was another alternative that people felt comfortable with. I think they would have gone there. She was a very hard worker, Kamala Harris, and she gave it a shot. But again, I fall back on the fact that if I'm sitting here, Stephen A. And she's sitting across from me for an hour interview, you think she survives that interview?

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, not. Not. Not the one that I saw. Not the one that I saw on the campaign trail. No. Based on the interviews that she gave. Not, Not. Not. Not an assault, not at a nanosecond.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I don't believe that. You have to ask yourself, if she can't stand up to the tough questions, why should be. Why should she be awarded the position of the most powerful person in the world? Because Putin's pretty tough guy. She and the Muellers, they're ruthless, evil people. You gotta have somebody in there and like Trump or not, he's proven that he can stand up to these people. So it was all about economy. And you were right. Immigration played a big part. Biden and Harris have never, ever explained why they opened that border. For what reason did you do that? But here's the crusher. There's always a crusher in sports and politics. You want the crusher?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Please.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Here's the crusher. So ABC News is in the tank for Kamala Harris, and their primary weekday show is the View. Two million viewers a day, 100% liberal. No conservative women watch that program. Kamala Harris consents to go into there because it's a friendly venue. She sits there, they yuck it up. They tell her how great she is, smooch, smooch, smooch. And then an aside comes out. If you had to do it all over again, do you think there's something that you would have done differently than President Biden?

[Stephen A. Smith]

She said nothing.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Kamala Harris says, not that I can think of. Over. It was over when she said it. So the folks at home going, wait a minute. I'm paying 20% more than. Than I did three and a half years ago. Afghanistan was an enormous embarrassment of historical proportions. The open border has injected 14 million foreign nationals into this country largely unsupervised. And there's nothing you would have done differently over right then.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And I'll tell you, this is just an aside before I ask my next question. You know, one of the things that I think works against the argument of misogyny is that Hillary Clinton in 2016 won a popular vote by about 2.686 million, more so than Donald Trump, even though she lost the Electoral College vote. And obviously she is a woman and she was considered very, very tough as well. If anything, people thought that she was a bit tough around the resident. Sure. Please, go ahead.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, I'll give you a better argument than Hillary. If Michelle Obama had wanted the nomination, she'd had it, the Democratic Party would have given it to her.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And she would have won and she would have beaten.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So you're saying Michelle Obama would have beaten Trump?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Enormously popular, Mrs. Obama. Enormously popular. And the Democratic Party looks fondly at the eight years of Barack Obama. It was nostalgia. Let's go back to the promised land. And I think Michelle would have won.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How long do you go back your relationship with Donald Trump? How long has it been? How long have you known each other?

[Bill O'Reilly]

About 30, 35 years.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What do you think about the Donald Trump that you've seen as a politician compared to the Donald Trump you knew before he was a politician?

[Bill O'Reilly]

It's the same guy. I mean, he's not really a politician. He's a dealmaker. That's how he ran the country in his first term. And Covid had not hit us, he would have been easily reelected just on the economic success alone that he experienced in the first 18 months. I remember when he left office, inflation was 1.4%. So he's not an ideologue. Trump, he doesn't care about. I mean, if I were quizzing Trump on the Republican Party and the history of it, he couldn't answer any questions. He doesn't know who, what Calvin Coolidge did or John Adams, Thomas Jefferson. He doesn't know any of that. He's a deal maker. And he's very astute at sizing up what he needs to get done to be successful. You don't amass billions of dollars. I wrote a book, the United States of Trump, best book you'll ever read on a man. And the man Donald Trump amassed a fortune by making good deals. And the final part of the equation is he is the hardest working politician in US History. There has never been another president or candidate that works as hard as that man works.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And the contrast to Joe Napping Biden was stunning. Absolutely stunning.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But what about somebody, what about somebody that would look at Bill O'Reilly knowing what you know, because you are very big on your facts, you know what the hell you're talking about. And as somebody that's been on TV with you and had the pleasure of sitting next to you and seeing how you operate, I have to acknowledge I just, I just sat there scratching My head. I said, this is why this man has been doing this for so long. This man knows what he's doing. But when you say he's a deal maker, okay, he's a businessman, a lot of folks on the left, the first thing that'll come to my mind, come to their mind, is a smirk, and they'll dismiss it and they'll say, the man's filed for bankruptcy six different times. This is what they'll point to. They'll point to those kind of things and say, what on earth is Bill O'Reilly talking about? How do you argue against that?

[Bill O'Reilly]

I don't. He runs his business the way he wants, and if he has to file for bankruptcy, he does. I don't condone what Donald Trump's deals have been. Not my job. My job is to look for the overall welfare of the American people, all of them. And when you have a four year record in office, that's what I'm looking at. I'm not looking at Trump University or Trump Golf Course in Uruguay. I don't care. All right? The man is fabulously wealthy. If you get out of Mar a Lago and you look around, you go, and this is like Louis XIV down here, right? Okay, so all of that is superfluous. And so are his statements that sometimes are crazy because he, he always does that. My hypothesis is he's a rich guy. And rich guys say what they want. Elon Musk says what he wants. Okay? Mark Zuckerberg says what he wants.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Rich guy, Mark Cuban, let's not forget him. He says what he wants.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Mark Cuban, right? Now, guys like you and me, working guys, I mean, we have worked our way up. And I say what I want, but I wasn't always that way. I was damn cautious.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Because I didn't have daddy's money to fall back on or any of this other stuff, all right? I had to carve it out. But rich people are different.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, they are.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And Trump is in that zone. If I want to say it, I'm going to say it. I don't care who likes it. And that's what he does.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I've always known billionaires to be that way. I know you got to get on out of here. Two quick questions. Latinos increased their vote for Trump by 13%, according to what I read. African Americans by 5%. Why do you think that happened for Donald Trump?

[Bill O'Reilly]

It's economics, pure and simple.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Pure and simple.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Look, when you have a president that under his administration, real wages, that's take home pay rise more than 7%. And then you have another president comes in right after and real wages fall, okay, into the negative territory. They've come back a little to about 1.8%. It doesn't matter what color you are, what ethnicity you are, your work, working hard for a living. You want to support your family, okay? You want to move on up like the Jeffersons. And when you can't, you're teed off. It's not about color. It's not about any of that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right?

[Bill O'Reilly]

There are some ideologues who play that game. I don't play the game, but that's why you got more. Ask me one sports question. Ask me why the New York jets can never get out of their way.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I will not ask you that question because we all know their football purgatory. My last question to you is going to be this. How is this Trump going to be better than the Trump that was in office from 2016 to 2020?

[Bill O'Reilly]

I have no idea whether he's going to be better, whether he's going to be worse. I have no idea at all. What I want for the country is for Donald Trump to succeed. Not for Donald Trump, not for Bill O'Reilly, the analyst on billorilly.com it's going to help my business that he got reelected. But we have lots of liberals and independents watching us, and they do so because I'm not imprisoned in an ideological cage. But I want what's best for the country. And I sent out a message today on Billorilly.com, i write a daily message and everybody's should go. It's free. Can you read it? Donald Trump better be cautious. Second terms are harder than first terms. Grover Cleveland, the only other guy who did this non consecutive terms, had a horrendous second term. And Trump, the hubris, all of that. You need to tamp that down. Laser lock into cleaning up the border, raising the economy as quickly as possible, getting social disorder under control, and being very straight with the American public. That's what I hope he does.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Bill O'Reilly, I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to join me today. I can't wait to have you back where I just sit here and talk to you about you and all you have accomplished in your career, particularly with all these daggone bestsellers you keep writing. So I'm looking forward to talking to you in the near future. We're going to be on Cuomo Nation. Cuomo tonight on News Nation. I'm looking forward to that as well. Always appreciate you my man. Thank you so much for joining me. Really appreciate it.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Thank you, Stephen. I really enjoyed the conversation.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you. See you soon. That was Bill O'Reilly, by the way. Thanks again. He's a very, very busy man. He did not have to come on this show to talk to me about these issues, but he certainly was kind enough to do it and I really, really appreciate it. I also, I'm going to appreciate hearing from you all as well. I'm going to take calls only on the election and what transpired and what your thoughts may be in light of what we witnessed on election day and night just last night. Lots to get into with the callers. I can't wait to tackle that. That's up next right here on the Stephen A. Smith show of the Digital Airways of YouTube and iHeartRadio. Back with more in a minute. I want to take a second to make sure everyone knows we are smack dab in the middle of the NFL season. And with games being played Thursday nights, Sunday night and Monday night, I couldn't be more excited. But what's even more exciting is that prizepix wants to help you cash in on all those big time games. You see. Prize Picks is a daily fantasy app where you can pick two or more of your favorite players and then you simply select more or less on the projected stats for the game. Pick a player's passing yards, rushing yards, and total touchdowns. The list is absolutely endless. And the good news just keeps coming because with Prize Picks you can choose from any sport you love to watch, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, even MMA all in the same entry. I make my picks and submit early, all in less than 60 seconds. And now with Prize Picks Live squares option, you'll be able to place mid game picks on full game projections. Just look for a red light indicator on a square in the app during games and pick a player's game projection after their game has started. And if you sign up now with code SAS, of course prospects will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a $5 lineup on prize picks and you'll get $50 instantly. Pick more, pick less. It's that easy.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome back. This is one of the very, very special days for me to take phone calls because in light of the election results, I imagine that a whole bunch of people have got a whole bunch of things to say. So let's take some of the calls. Hit me up at 888SAS 5303. That's 888-727-5303. Let's go to Roger in California. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Roger? Talk to me. How you doing?

[Max]

Hey, Stephen A. I'm calling from Los Angeles, California. My question for you today is if you were if you won the presidential election, what would your top three policies that you would focus on be and why?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, first of all, I would my number one priority would be the economy. Because when the economy is thriving, there's less chaos. People are confident that they can go to work, that they can pay their bills. And when you're paying your bills, there's a lot less stress. And when there's a lot less stress, there's a lot less chaos and dare I say, a lot less violence. So it certainly would be number one on my list. Number two would be addressing immigration. I don't want to sit up there and say I would just take folks and deport them. I would have to deport some folks and I certainly would deport criminals and stuff like that. But I'm not one of those guys who believes that because you're an immigrant, you're a criminal. I hate the fact that Trump came across on too many occasions being that loose with his tongue when it came to immigrants crossing our borders. But I can't find another country in this world that just has open borders and let people come in and you're going to subsidize them when you know you're going to compromise the economy while doing so and jeopardize the comfortability of your citizens, of your national citizens. I would definitely address the border issues, and again, I'd be very selective in who I deported. But the one thing that I would do unapologetically has closed the border. There wouldn't be anybody coming in when you already got over 12 million to 14 million immigrants here illegally. Nobody else would be coming in. I would definitely do that. And thirdly, this is the part where somebody like me would possibly be worse than Trump. I'm not tolerating a bunch of crime. When you have a bunch of crime going on in the streets of America, that compromises a business's ability to do business, then everything becomes chaotic. I remember when I was in California at a time in the immediate aftermath of COVID they couldn't let more than three people in the stores at a time because they were getting robbed. Nah, the Stephen A. Smith administration wouldn't be tolerating that. I'd have undercover cops, I'd have detectives, I'd have everybody on the scene. We ain't having it. We ain't having that. I would definitely address those three. The economy, immigration, and crime on the streets of America. America. Those would be my top three priorities. Does that answer your question, Roger?

[Max]

Yes, sir. Very thorough. Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you. Take it easy. Have a good day. Matt at Fort Lauderdale, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Matt? Talk to me.

[Max]

Um, first and foremost, I just wanted to go ahead and ask about how you feel about Trump wanting to grant police full immunity.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, I don't. I don't agree with that. I think that if you are. If you're a rogue cop and you've engaged in criminal activity, you don't deserve immunity. I'm not somebody that supports defunding the police. I'm not one of those. I also don't believe in castigating all police officers. You got black, you've got white, you've got Latino, you got various police officers of all ethnicities, male and female, by the way, I might add that fact. So I wouldn't be castigating all of them with a broad brush. That's why I don't say police brutality. I say brutality on the part of some police officers. As a black man, I don't want to be castigated for everything and anything that somebody black does. And I don't think that police officers should be negatively stigmatized because of the actions of a rogue cop. But I'm certainly not trying to grant immunity to police officers who've broken the law, particularly those who've engaged in excessive violent behavior. Oh, hell no. I'm not about that.

[Max]

Yes, sir. I mean, I completely agree with what you said. Did you see the specifics he said at the NABJ conference? In terms of that the police already have qualified immunity, but in terms of this full immunity, that there'd be a type of a board to review every case and things like that?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, I didn't see all of that. But what I would say to you is that there's nothing wrong with saying that a board gets to review everything. That's not granting them immunity. That's simply saying that there's a board that would exist to investigate, investigate their behavior. That. Why? That way we can deduce what they're truly guilty of and what they are not guilty of, and then it would be handled from that standpoint. That's not just granting somebody immunity. That's saying, let's make sure those we impugn with the stigma of guilt are truly, truly guilty. As opposed to a mob like atmosphere being geared against them just because they wear those blue uniforms. And you have a lot of people within the streets of America that can't stand them and believe they need to suffer as much as they possibly can. You don't, you don't want that kind of stuff going on, and I understand that. I appreciate the call. I got to get on out of here. Matt, thank you so much. Max, you're live with Stephen A. What's going on? Max, how are you?

[Max]

Stephen A. How are we doing?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm all right. Where are you from, Max?

[Max]

Westchester, New York. I'm calling in from.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right. What's up? Talk to me.

[Max]

So, listen, I studied political science in College. I'm 24 years old. I'd like to say I have a firm grip on policy in our American, American ways.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Max]

I have a cousin, born and raised in Highbridge who is black. And him and I go on every day to talk about sports and now, obviously, the election. So my question to you is, as a white man who has a black cousin, how am I to go about telling him that everything's going to be okay after Donald Trump just retained office.

[Stephen A. Smith]

By Having faith in America by understanding that no matter who's in office, no one man is bigger than the system and is bigger than this country. We've had situations in the past hearken back to time. Pre civil Rights movement. Weren't times worse then? Weren't times worse in the 30s and the 20s for black folks and women, by the way, wasn't it worse in the 18th century? America's been around since 1776. Right. But somehow, some way, we've gotten to this point. And no matter how, what, what you think about one individual, this is not a dictatorship. This is not an autocracy. This is not, regardless of what folks were trying to say, this is not some fascist or Marxist country. This is a capitalistic society that we live in. We have a. We have 100 elected officials in the Senate. We have 435 elected officials in Congress. We got nine Supreme Court justices. We have federal judges and state judges and all of this other stuff going on. We live in a democratic society. There may be those who come along that threaten to upend it to some degree because they have a following. And chaos reigns because of that at certain times. Times. But we've overcome a hell of a lot more throughout history, more so than one individual can ultimately offset and overcome. That's what you lean on. That's what you pin your hopes on and you move forward and you march forward.

[Max]

Absolutely. It's just, it's, you know, it's hard to sit here. And again, I will never tell him how he can and can't feel. But, you know, if you look at the polling numbers, the white demographic failed us. Us being, you know, the Democratic Party.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Say that. You could say that, Max. But here's what I would tell you. Hispanics increased their support for Trump by 13%. As I revealed earlier, black folks increased their support by 5%. Is it really about them letting down the minorities in this community, or was it them speaking up and highlighting and illuminating the frustrations that emanate from our communities? And they simply had the courage to say, I'm going to vote this way. I voted for Kamala Harris, and I'm proud that I did because I think that he's a divisive figure that will cause chaos in this country as opposed to being a statesman. But that's just my opinion. With or without him, I was confident that I'm going to be okay moving forward because I understand what we're dealing with here. The flip side to it, however, is that you have Hispanics, you have Puerto Ricans. Here you have Mexicans here, you have Colombians here, along with a bevy of other folks from Guatemalans and Venezuelans and others living in the United States of America, Cubans, let me not forget that. And everybody wasn't aligned. You had some people who voted for Trump, you had some people voting for Kamala Harris because they took their interest into consideration. They look at who they thought was giving them lip service and who they thought could really provoke and promote change compared to what we've been witnessing over the last four years. They have every right to do so. Four years from now, he'll be gone. J.D. vance will undoubtedly, in my mind, be his successor trying to win the presidency in 2028. Who are you going to have to go against him? What policies are you going to have in place? Are you going to leave on the lean on the extreme left, or are you going to stand firm and say, you know what, we need to inch towards the center, which is where Bill Clinton had us in the 90s from 92, 2000, when he was a very, very popular president in the eyes of a lot of liberals. He was center left, okay? He wasn't operating on the fringes. So these are all things we need to take into consideration. And rather than look at what Trump is bringing to the table, why not look at what we brought to the table? If you are a Democrat, what you brought to the table and how much of a turnoff it was for a lot of the American citizens out there. Max, my brother, he romped her. He romped her. He won all. I mean, there was no blue wall. He got. He won the popular vote for the first time and obviously the electoral college vote. Yo, that's about a country saying to you, we don't like a lot of things, but we don't think the left has the answer. You got to deal with that. That's not about Trump. That's about the Democrats. And that's what we have to accept.

[Max]

It's not a matter of accepting, but my follow up to you would be, do you feel like now we're moving backwards as a society?

[Stephen A. Smith]

It depends.

[Max]

Especially with, especially with control of the Senate now.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It depends.

[Max]

Control of the Senate.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It depends. And the reason why I say that it depends, Max, respectfully, is this. If we talk, well, entitlement programs, for example, no doubt that's going to take a hit. We have to understand that when we look at issues pertaining to the black community, the fact of the matter is we were looking for that from the Democrats. They kept giving us lip service but they didn't give us a plan. Because I got news for you. $20,000 to start, you know, to help jump start black businesses. If you know anything about building a business, even jump starting a business, that ain't enough money. And so when you look at it from that standpoint, you've had ample opportunity and ample time. The civil rights legislation was signed in 1964, bro. 1964. You've had nearly 60 years of getting at least 80% of the black vote. And here we are nearly 60 years later, still complaining about a lot of the same things that we've been complaining about all of these decades. And then when the Hispanics came into our country and their numbers continued to proliferate, they catered more to immigration and issues pertaining to Hispanics than catering to the black community. Why? Because the black community said, hey, there's no way in hell we're gonna vote Republican. So you alienated the Republican side because they knew they weren't going to get our vote. And then you had the left knowing they were gonna get our vote so they could give us lip sync service. But they never really had to do anything for us. And as a result, we ended up being the only disenfranchised group in existence in this country. So when you say we're going backwards, we're going backwards. Well, when the hell have we been going forward? That's the question that we got to ask ourselves. I don't know the answer to that question. And I'm saying you and I together can help find out. But what we have to do is stop walking around here acting like, oh, my Lord, forward. We're definitely, definitely going to go backwards when we can make the legitimate argument we were never as forward as y'all say we were.

[Max]

I don't think it's an argument of how forward we were. But again, as a white male who is submerged in a group full of other white males who voted Trump, I can tell you straight up in the last 12 hours, the amount of horrible language that is able to be used in the thought process that they feel entitled and backed now by Trump. It's unbelievable.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, you could say that. You could say that. My response to that would be this. Didn't you just say you voted for Trump?

[Max]

No, I did not.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay. I thought you said that. I'm sorry. I thought you said that.

[Max]

My apologies.

[Stephen A. Smith]

My apologies. My point to you is this. It is appalling, the language. He is not a statesman. I didn't vote for him primarily because he's not a Statesman. And I think that he's more divisive than galvanizing. I get that part. But remember this. Stop holding him responsible. The people who support him are ones who want him to speak to Washington just like that, because that's how they feel towards Washington, because they believe that Washington has been playing us for decades and they despise them for it. So what they have is an individual in him. If you and I came, Max, and we said, sir, we don't like Washington, they really, really need to do better, et cetera, et cetera, well, that's political speak. But when you hear him saying, they're crooks, they're criminals, they're pieces of trash, I can't stand the politicians on Capitol Hill I'm talking about. They're like, yeah, yeah, that's how they want him to speak to Washington because that's how they feel about our representatives. So is the problem really him, or is the real problem Washington and how that needs to change? Let's talk about this another day because I got to go and I got to take a couple of more phone calls. Thank you for the call, Max. Let's go to Brandon. You're live from Perrine, Florida. What's going on? Brandon, how are you?

[Max]

Hey, what's up, man? I'm doing good. Hey. First thing I'd like to say is I'm a huge fan of you. I'm also a huge fan of Trump. I voted the other day, and I'd like to ask, what would you. What would you think would happen if Kamala got elected and the tables were turned entirely?

[Stephen A. Smith]

What do you mean? That if. That if the left was in complete power.

[Max]

Yeah. And they. And they actually were winning this presidency and they won it in the end.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, here's what I would tell you. I think that she would be more sympathetic to the. To the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. I have no doubt about that. But I would have serious questions about all the money that she wants to spend, where she would get it from. Our debt is nearing $37 trillion. At some point in time, you got to pay the piper. Well, how are you going to do that? What are you going to do to generate revenue that would enable you to be able to fund some of the things on your agenda that you may have? Who's going to take the hit? How are you going to get that money? Every four years, we keep hearing about how the rich are going to get taxed somehow, some way. The loopholes are never closed. And as a result, there's always business as usual. The same folks that you see them talking about is the same folks that are serving as their lobbyist and what have you living in those, you know, chilling in those suites during a Democratic National Convention. What are you going to do about that? So it breeds a legitimate question, and I get that. I also think it's important to recognize the fact that had Kamala Harris won, and again, I voted for her, so let's not be a hypocrite here. I think the Democratic Party would have been at the mercy of those on the fringes with their progressive movement, held hostage by people like Squad, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, AOC And Representative Taliban and others. I think they would have been at their mercy, and I'm not sure that would have been good for America. So to me, you can look at the good and the bad of it, but really, here's what it comes down to. For most independents, people like myself would not have had any problem voting in a different direction if it were not for Trump. It's Trump that we couldn't vote for. But if it was somebody like a Nikki Haley or somebody like that against Kamala Harris, I think it would have been equally of a romp as it ended up being. That's my answer to that question.

[Max]

Okay. Okay. Hey, can I. Can I ask you one more question real quick?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hurry up. Real quick.

[Max]

All right, so now that Trump got elected, do you think. Who do you think the next, you know, president in the Republican side would be?

[Stephen A. Smith]

J.D. vance. You know, easily. After the way. After the way JD Vance performed during the debate against Tim Waltz. Okay. After that happened, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the heir apparent. He handled himself with such skill that everyone is comfortable with him being the heir apparent to Donald Trump. He'd actually be better in their eyes than Donald Trump once all is said and done. Without question. Gotta go. Appreciate the call. Last caller, Jordan from. Jordan, you're live with Stephen A. It doesn't say where you're from, Jordan, but how are you?

[Max]

Hey, Stephen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm doing well.

[Max]

How are you doing?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm all right. Where are you from? Atlanta.

[Max]

Atlanta.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Talk to me. What's going on?

[Max]

So my big question for you is, we saw in this election, obviously the young vote came out big time for Trump, but not so much for Kamala. So what do you think the Democratic Party can do in the future to get the youth vote out more?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I think somebody. I saw somebody on MSNBC say this this morning. They said that the Democratic Party needs to let go of its connection with the progressive wing of its party. Otherwise, their days are over. I completely agree with that. The only shot Democrats have of winning any elections in the future is if they stay away from the extreme left. Center left is acceptable. It means you're reasonable. It means you're financially astute. It means you're willing to compromise and work both sides of the aisle, that you're not as dogged as they are on the extreme left the way they can be on the extreme right as well. There has to be a centrist mentality. Barack Obama and a lot of people's eyes came across as depicting that prior to him being in office and even when he was in office, in the eyes of some people, Bill Clinton certainly did that, okay? Biden messed up when he caved in. That's why he opened the borders the minute he got in office with his executive orders. And that what turned. That's what turned a lot of people off to him. There's no way around that. And I think that that's how you have to do it. Remember when folks were looking at the left? Folks remembered the debates about whether a man should be allowed to use the same bathroom as girls because he was transitioning. Folks remember how you had men transitioning to women who wanted to play sports in women's sports? Folks remember those kind of things. And that's the kind of thing, along with stuff like defund the police and things of that nature that folks do not want to hear. When I saw the romp that took place, the decisive fashion in which Trump won this election, you know what I walked away thinking? What my boys, like my man Jeff in California, who's a staunch Republican, always told me. He said, folks on the left, they will argue, they will fight, they will protest, they will do all of that stuff. He said, us Republicans, we don't say anything. We just go out and vote. And what I thought about is think about this. Leading up to the election, there was a whole bunch of people. You had some folks, and I think one of the callers. I mispronounced her name. Her name is Kamala Harris. I'm not accusing them of being there on purpose, but we know her name and we know how it's pronounced by now. Stop mispronouncing her name. It's Kamala Harris. Okay? But what happened? Think about this. Leading up to the election, they said the polls had it very, very tight. I had renowned pollster Frank Luntz tell me that this wouldn't be decided in days. It might not take. It might take until next week for them to make a decision. Before the polls closed last night, ladies and gentlemen, the polls closed at 7 on the east coast and Donald Trump was announced as President elect by 2am in seven hours, he had over 270 electoral college votes. 292 to be exact. In seven hours. That's America speaking. We tired of all of this. Let's reel ourselves back to familiar territory. No matter how tense and stressful it may be, it needs to be familiar, not this other stuff we've been dealing with all of these years. Enough's enough. And they have spoken. Donald Trump is in the White House. The Republicans control the Senate and likely the House. That 6:3 majority in the Supreme Court, it potentially may escalate to seven to two. We knew there was a danger of that happening before the election. And a vast majority of Americans, through their popular vote and the Electoral College vote, said, I don't give a damn. That's the America we're living in. It has spoken. She, as in the United States of America, has spoken. We have to stand down and accept it, at least for the next couple of years and then four years from now. But today, we have no choice. Gotta eat it. America has spoken. America has said enough. That's it. Appreciate y'all watching. That's it for this edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. I'll holla at y'all a couple of days. Until then, peace of love, everybody. Thanks again to Bill O'Reilly, by the way. Appreciate him coming on board. Have more to discuss in the future, but I'll get back to a lot of sports as well. Just needed to deviate from that for this particular show. I hope you understand. Until next time, peace of love.

[Greg Rosenthal]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What's up, everyone? Julius Ripps here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

[Bill O'Reilly]

We're doing a new podcast together.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here we go, the Name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All topics are fair game, right? Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.