Tori Cooper (4:26)

I'm doing well. How are you, Steven?

Stephen A. Smith (4:28)

Listen, I had to bring you back because I wanted to get your thoughts on what I just brought up about Joy Taylor. And as you've watched all of this unfold, I know you like myself. We've read the 42 page. You know, allegations, you know, rifled allegations against Joy Taylor, against Charlie Dixon, against Skip Bayless, specifically pertaining to Joy Taylor. I want to know what your thoughts are about all the heat that she's been taking over the last few days.

Tori Cooper (5:00)

Why is such a focus on Joy Taylor? First of all, she's not being accused of sexual battery, she's not being accused sexual harassment. She's being accused of engaging in sexual behavior to earn her spot that she has on Fox Sports. Now the problem I have with this, Stephen, is this continues to be the issue in this industry is when a man gets there in any industry really. When a man gets there, he earned it. When a woman gets there, she slept her way to the top somehow. And so that's issue number one. Issue number two is that we're just going to completely negate her experience and the fact that she is more than qualified to be in this role. And if you just read this lawsuit at face value, and this is my problem with these lawsuits, is people just take it as fact. These are allegations at the end of the day. And when you look at this lawsuit and you comb through it at face value, they paint her as a bartender who had little experience, who was a radio experience in radio and was not qualified for Fox Sports. And she was working as a fill in anchor and a bartender at the same time. I worked two jobs to get into this industry. I worked behind the scenes first. So we don't earn these spots lightly. And that's where I get really frustrated with people on social media who are trying to come for this woman's experience and credibility to be considered for this role. So let's just go back into the history really quick into her experience since we want to talk about it. She worked behind the scenes as an executive producer. That's someone who writes the shows for the people you see with the mic one. Then she worked her way into a slot to be a co host on that show on that radio show in Miami. Then on top of that, she took the show to number one. She took the show to number one. And then after that, then she makes her way to California is essentially doing what it appears to be freelancing and it's filling in and working to get that spot. And eventually she gets, she gets called on. Many people right now, Stephen A. Would say I'm not even qualified to sit next to you. But it's not always about experience. If it was about experience in this industry, then so many people wouldn't even have the spots they Have. It's about a lot of other intangibles. But for this specific issue, this woman was more than qualified. She's been a credible, a Fox Sports commentator, and she's doing her job. So that's the big issue. Another issue on social media that I'm seeing that's very upsetting is that people are saying, you know, this is why women shouldn't be in sports. This is why we, we don't want women involved in this. Because we're going to be faced with these allegations. And this is, give us our world back. This is not your world. You're not going to claim the sports environment. And this is the problem that I have, because at the end of the day, this is a form of entertainment that anyone can share. Not anyone, but people can share their take on it and people can be engaged in this topic. Lastly, this is the main, the main issue I have with this. This is another woman who's of minority to stay who's also claiming that another woman who's a minority did this. So I know that the female sports anchors of the world right now are all cringing because they're like, wow. Oh, you just continue to feed right into this, the same narrative that we don't deserve to be up here at the desk with these men who love live, breathe and sleep, this topic. So now it's always about us sleeping with people to get to the spot we're in. And then now another woman's going to feed right into that with these allegations. So it doesn't help we're up against, as women in this industry to have allegations like this circulating around. But this also. She could file her own lawsuit. She could. These are. There's nothing, nothing has been proven. So that's where I'll leave it.

Stephen A. Smith (8:34)

And here's the thing people need to understand. That's one of the reasons that you might not be hearing anything from her, nor Skip Bayless or anybody else, because they can turn around and sue. And they got there. I mean, I mean, think about the allegations that have been thrown out against them. Think about, you know, the need that they may feel to retaliate. And as a result of that, I think that is even further requirement for people to be careful. But let me tell you why I wanted you on here, Tory, because I have to admit, I'm pretty pissed off now. There's a, there's a few people's names I'm not going to mention because, damn it, they ain't worth it. Okay? And I get that. But there's a few men out there that are acting like, you know, this is the perfect excuse to justify why we make the argument that women don't belong in the industry, which is incredibly. An incredibly egregious thing to say. Okay? They'll look at any woman sitting in a host chair or any woman that's a reporter out there or any woman that has to walk into the locker room, and all of a sudden their credibility is being questioned. My thing, what I'm more appalled at by rather even that is the women all over social media that are allowing it to happen. And that's why I wanted you on the show today, because I said I'm not going to speak about it just from the male perspective. I'm going to have a female in front me that I can bounce this off of to check me in case I'm wrong about this. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't spend a lot of time looking all over social media, but I'm looking at an abundance of women and I'm saying the allegations. I understand what the allegations are. The allegations of Joy Taylor slept with Charlie Dixon and she boss and she did it while she was married. And, well, first of all, the marriage part is her business. It's nobody else's. The boss situation obviously is dicey. Make no mistake about it. You got a girl that was supposed to be a best friend that's supposedly diming her out right now. Now, that's incredibly unfortunate, but one could easily argue it's really not about your guilt or innocence. It's about how guilty I make you look, forcing you to capitulate to the demands that I'm making civilly. We can get into that a little bit later. But what I find most egregious, most egregious, Tory, is the abundance of women out there who are laughing, who are pointing the finger at Joy Taylor with a profound, profound level of guilt, as if they know even when they throw in the word allegedly, they do it with smirks on their face, sort of dismissive. Because in this business, we know how to speak with our body language, not just with words. And not only that, they're using it as an excuse to question her credibility. Now, I don't know what happened. You don't know what happened. We don't know what level of truth or falsehood exists with the allegations that Nosheen Faraji has thrown in the direction of the executive at Fox Sports, Skip Bayless, Joy Taylor or anybody else. But let me tell you what I do know. I know that I've seen Joy Taylor on TV a lot over the years, and I think she's pretty damn good. I think she's ready. I think she's very capable. I think she's worthy of the position that she has on Fox Sports. I think her podcast with Taylor Rooks is a damn good podcast. I think her credentials in this business have been established. I did an interview just yesterday. I was being interviewed by a guy by the name of Sid Rosenberg, a longtime conservative radio host. And he was telling me how Jason Taylor, the former Miami Dolphin, that Hall of Famer, her big brother, her brother, rather, he had called to see if he could help, if Sid could help her get a job in the business, and he ended up hiring her. And obviously, like you pointed out, she produced when she had the opportunity, and that's what created other opportunities for her. So I'm looking at it, Tori, and I'm saying, wait a minute here. Am I watching this correctly? Are there an abundance of women out there that are using this as a license to question her credentials based off of having you not. Have you not watched her over the years on television? And if you're going to do that, okay, why would you. Why would you want to do that? Even that? That's where I'm at with it, Tory. That's my problem. The fact that people are using this as an excuse to question her credentials. If she just got the job yesterday or last week or last month or something, that would be one thing. She's been on TV for years showing her capability, and now all of that is being ignored because of allegations. That's where I'm at with it, Tory, where are you?

Tori Cooper (13:05)

There's the court of public opinion, and then there's real court, right? And again, these are allegations. And use it. Having women, you know, essentially, I mean, to me, it seems like it could be coming from a place of jealousy, like, oh, finally put a target on her back. Now we can say she wasn't qualified because not only is she beautiful, but now we could say she wasn't qualified and didn't enter a spot. And I'm not shocked by it. People are. Okay, there's one thing I do want to talk about, and it is your looks. Your looks play into this. When you are beautiful, you are up against a different battle at times in this industry. I mean, people are always going to try to say that your looks played into this. Your looks do help you in this. We cannot ignore that.

Stephen A. Smith (13:50)

Pause, pause, pause, pause. For one thing, one thing, your looks or how you present yourself.

Tori Cooper (13:58)

Right.

Stephen A. Smith (13:59)

Question. Which one? I'm asking.

Tori Cooper (14:02)

No, it's about how you present yourself. But the looks do contribute to whether or not you have an on camera look or not. If you ask any news director right now, they are going to say, does she pop through the screen? Does she make me pay attention? I'm gonna decide in 30 seconds whether or not I want her on my show. Can she grab an audience? That's what they're asking. So, yes, your looks are part of it, but it's about your presentation. And, you know, but there's other parts of this that I, you know, these allegations that do matter, that I believe should set precedent, hopefully change. Because when we come on and talk about these issues, there's an opportunity for change. I do believe that. And in this realm, I would say some of the things that I've seen that are disappointing, and if they are true, then maybe there's an opportunity for change. Personally, I would not be going out to drinks with my bosses. We don't know if that happened. That is one of the allegations that was made. But on principle, I'm not going out to drinks with my executives. I'm not going out to parties with them for a number of reasons. One, I do not want to be talked about in my newsroom like that. Why was she out to drinks with them? What is she doing? I don't want them knowing my personal life. I don't want my bosses knowing my personal life. Number two. And then number three, now you're opening yourself up to rumors to spread about you that look like this. So this is why you cannot. You, you have to strike a right balance when you're going to take a professional person into a public environment outside the professional work setting. Because now you're opening yourself up to these obligations, these types of allegations. So, one, watch how you're moving. Watch how you carry yourself in the workplace, because this is what you're going to open yourself up to potentially, especially if you're the one in the highest spot, a hairstylist is going to potentially come for you in this way. Now, mind you, again, these are allegations. I just want to continue to point that out because it's essential to this conversation. So that's, that's one of the main issues I wanted to bring up, is not taking your bosses out to lunch and dinner and opening yourself up to this type of conversation. And three or two sending the wrong signals. You got to make sure you're not sending the wrong signals, Stephen.

Stephen A. Smith (16:04)

A dressing provocatively, drinking, speaking In a certain way that that's unprofessional, that's more informal than formal of those things definitely contribute to it. And I don't disagree.

Tori Cooper (16:16)

You talked about the attire and the room for change. And if you're okay with this, I would love to talk about that piece to it because please take one of the things that talked. One of the things that people have talked about is the sports environment is a more laxed environment. You can wear a little bit. You can be more yourself. You can, you know, test the waters a little bit about what you're going to wear. Personally, I've been disappointed in some of the stuff I've been seeing women wear in the sports environment. And not just the sports environment. Meteorologists. They're also wearing clothes that I'm not excited about. Because here's the thing. Don't you want to pay attention to what I'm saying? Don't you want people to pay attention to what I'm saying? My skill set. Don't be a distraction in the workplace.

Stephen A. Smith (16:59)

All right?

Tori Cooper (17:00)

You want people to care about what you're saying.

Stephen A. Smith (17:02)

Tori. Tori Cooper. Tory Cooper. Fair enough. But this is the Stephen A. Smith show, so you know where I'm going. I'm gonna ask this question. I need specifics. I mean, I'm not talking about names. I'm talking about when you talk about you don't like the stuff that people wear in the industry. I need examples. I need examples. The ladies out there need examples.

Tori Cooper (17:26)

Perfect example. Crop tops, showing your midriff on air. I don't care to see your belly button. We're not at the beach. But I see it on air in the sports world. Hey, that's number one. Number two, cleavage. Your boobs are out. You're distracting people. The main thing is don't be distracting. But it's not just what the lack of clothing, it's also the choices of clothing to the patterns are distracting. I'm seeing people wearing cheetah print. I'm seeing people wearing pinstripes. I'm seeing people wear all kinds of stuff that is completely distracting to the viewer. The point of television that you are supposed to learn early on is don't be a distraction to the viewer. Let them pay attention to what you're saying. But too many times I'm seeing people warn, you know, inviting in to be a distraction. It looks like they want to be a distraction, honestly, and it looks like they want the attention at times. And what are we here for? We're here to be professionals. So let's show up that way so people can focus on your skill and what you have to say. Otherwise, you're inviting this type of behavior. Right. In my opinion.

Stephen A. Smith (18:30)

Is there any truth to the notion that people have speculated about that? You have some places, I can assure you it's not Disney. I can promise you that. But that there's some truth to the notion that you may have certain networks that encourage that, directly or indirectly, for females to feel the need to dress in a certain provocative way. Have you or have you heard of any ladies in the industry expressing the notion that this is what their bosses wanted?

Tori Cooper (19:08)

Yes, I heard that. I heard that. That's the environment that you're in. And especially. So here's the thing. Consultants matter. This is why you're supposed to have consultants come consult you on your wardrobe, consult you on your makeup. And if these consultants are continuing to lean into a culture of, oh, yeah, test the waters, yeah, wear that bright color, show your. You know. Yes, they are contributing to it. At the end of the day, that's what I've heard for sure. But hearsay is hearsay, right?

Stephen A. Smith (19:36)

I guess for me, going back to my original point, it's not about what you say sometimes, it's about how you say it. So if you've had women all over social media that were pissed off because Joy Taylor finds herself in this position and that's what they're oozing, I understand it. If you have women who were of the opinion. No, this is just an allegation. It's not facts, such as yourself, such as me and what have you. And they said, hey, you know what? Benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty, et cetera. And by the way, she's incredibly qualified because we watched her for years and she knows what she's doing. I understand that. What I have a problem with is the Joy, no pun intended, females over social media appear to be having in bringing her credibility in the question, not understanding or not being sensitive to the plight that ladies have fought for decades to gain and elevate their level of credibility. That's number one. And number two, the men who will remain nameless, because I really don't. Oh, as much as they deserve it, I just don't want to give them that kind of attention because the sorry asses don't deserve it, but are talking in such a way that. That they acting like women don't belong in this industry. I can't believe they're getting away with stuff like that. I'm gonna give you the last word on this Tory, go ahead and respond to that.

Tori Cooper (21:10)

There's room for change. Don't be a distraction. The women on social media who are coming for Joy Taylor, it looks like it's coming from a place of jealousy. So that says something about you and the men who want to act like we don't belong at the table. Look at our credibility. How about you do some research on our background? Don't just look at. Look at the way I look. How about you go look into my experience and then we'll talk about it. But I'll leave it there.

Stephen A. Smith (21:35)

I got you. Tori Cooper, appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Thanks for being on the show with me today. I'll catch with you later. All right?

Tori Cooper (21:41)

All right. Have a good day now.

Stephen A. Smith (21:43)

Let's get to the NBA. Oh, before I do that, I gotta pause for a moment here because I gotta take a moment to acknowledge the wildfires that's taking place in Southern California and the impact they're having on the NBA family. To be specific, warriors coach Steve Kerr And Lakers coach J.J. redick said family members evacuated their homes with the flames that tore through the Pacific Palisades. We're thinking of them and the thousands of families in Southern California impacted by the fire. Just wanted to send out my heartfelt concerns on behalf of the Stephen A. Smith show for everybody that's being impacted by this. It is dangerous out there. It's a wildfire. I saw a picture of the sky. It looks like the sky is on fire, for crying out loud. It's very windy as well, which is why, obviously, the fire is spreading. It's what it's called a wildfire for. All right, So I just want to let everybody know that, you know, our hearts are with everybody in Southern California, sincerely hoping and wishing that everybody remains safe and they get this stuff contained. Now, I want to get to the ongoing war words between JJ Redick, head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, and of course, Mr. Charles Barkley himself from TNT. NBA hall of Famer. By the way, let's not forget that it started in late December when the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers spoke about the media bashing the game instead of celebrating the game. Now, listen, before I even play you this sound, understand, there's a lot of people that's been saying stuff about the game of basketball. They've been talking about the NBA ratings have dipped even though they're doing quite well. They've been talking a lot about the product that they're watching on the court. And you've had people in media thinking that the media has contributed to the demise of the game because the media is complaining about the game too much instead of celebrating the game. That prompted J.J. redick to speak, which prompted Charles Barkley to come right back at him, which prompted JJ Redick to say something else and Charles Barkley to say something else. All of that, that is what I'm about to show you right now. Sit back for the next couple of minutes and take a listen and a look to this. If I'm a casual fan and you tell me every time I turn on.

Nate Thompson (23:50)

The television that the product sucks, well, I'm not going to watch the product. And that's really what has happened over the last 10 to 15 years. I don't know why. It's not funny to me. Nothing, nothing is entertaining to me. This game should be celebrated.

Bill Maher (24:07)

I heard J.J. redick says something about me. J.J. you better calm down. Because when you come for the King, you better not miss.

Nate Thompson (24:13)

I don't. Did he name you specifically?

Stephen A. Smith (24:16)

Was he just talking about folks on tv?

Bill Maher (24:18)

He said something about, we're the reason people ain't watching this crappy product we got. Yeah, us like we out there jacking up 103 tonight. JJ I don't know. Jason Monroe, I don't know who that is. But J.J. if you come for the King, you better not miss. Cause I can get you, brother. Cause I got. Remember, I got your Lakers games. You can't hide them flaws. They got you just a dead man walking. They got rid of Frank Vogel, who did a good job. They got rid of Darvin Ham, who did a good job. But you came out there thinking you were gonna change things with that same ugly girl you went on date with. I'm JJ Redick. I can make this thing work. Please, I'm being professional. You come for me, you better not miss. We're the reason ratings are down.

Stephen A. Smith (24:59)

Oh, we're the reason.

Bill Maher (25:00)

With reasons like we plan, we're only on an hour. Listen.

Stephen A. Smith (25:03)

All week.

Bill Maher (25:04)

That's exactly right. If me and Shaq played, damn. The ratings would be down. But in fairness, we'd be like the third or fourth best players on that Laker team right now. But it's Frank Vogel and Darvin Ham's fault. I don't bother nobody, but if you hit me, I'm gonna hit you back.

Nate Thompson (25:19)

I didn't make it all the way. All the way through the clip. I gotta be honest with you. My resting heart rate is probably 64. I watched the clip. It was 64.

Stephen A. Smith (25:32)

Literally. Don't care.

Nate Thompson (25:35)

I have other Thoughts, but don't care.

Bill Maher (25:38)

And the Lakers prove to what I keep saying the Lakers stink, plain and simple. We have to talk about them because the media is infatuated with the Lakers. But the Lakers are not a good team. They got zero athletic ability. When you watch him, Jason Kidd coached a masterpiece tonight. He like, we can go one on one, get any shot we want. They got a good shot every time. The Lakers could never keep him in front of them. This was a coaching masterpiece by Jason Kidd because there's no way that team that the Mavs put out there, especially one winning by 20.

Stephen A. Smith (26:12)

Couple of things. Number one, to address JJ Redick, the person. JJ Redick doesn't suffer fools. And he's a brilliant, brilliant basketball mind. Very smart, very intellectual. Prides himself on being an intellectual. And so when JJ Redick, essentially, in that second sound of him saying, I have my thoughts, but I'll keep it to myself, when he was talking about his art rate hadn't changed, et cetera, et cetera, I can tell you what J.J. redick's thinking about. He's thinking about film, he's thinking about analytics that he reads up on. He's thinking about the nuances of the game of basketball that ultimately made him a head coach. And he's saying he knows that is something that Charles Barkley doesn't necessarily do. So he doesn't know more than I know. Please. That's how he's thinking about it. Charles Barkley is a bottom line kind of individual. He's a Hall of Famer, he's one of the greatest players to have ever played, 75th anniversary team, et cetera, et cetera. Olympic gold medalist, a member of the original Dream Team, one of the great, great forwards in the history of basketball whose credentials speak for itself, even though he's devoid of a championship. And Charles Barkley is a results oriented dude that's looking at a Los Angeles Lakers team that ain't going no damn place, one that bounced out in five games in the first round last year against Denver. He's looking at those kind of things and he's saying, don't come to me with all of this technical, this analytical stuff and all of that. You guys suck, period. That's how Charles Barkley is thinking. Now, let me enter the fray first on the complimentary part. I don't think JJ Redick is doing a bad job. They're 20 and 16. They're top six seed in the Western Conference, okay? And I think that the things that are happening with the Los Angeles Lakers are Not of his doing. I think if he had better talent, he'd do better. The issue with that is one could say the same thing about Frank Vogel. One could say the same thing certainly about Darvin Ham. Darvin Ham, as he articulated just a couple of weeks ago, came near his first year. He got him to the Western Conference finals. After that, despite a bevy of injuries and other issues, they won the in season tournament. They got to play in, went through the play and got to the playoffs. And the only reason they got bounced out in five games and went home was because they were playing against the reigning NBA champions at the time, the Denver Nuggets, who had swept them in the Western Conference finals the year before and took them out in five this go round. So when you're looking at Darvin Ham and the job that he did, you could easily ask, why is he gone now, J.J. redick, what he has to own up to. And I don't fault him at for this at all. This is all on LeBron James. This part that I'm about to mention is all on LeBron James. How the hell you gonna have a podcast about basketball and the nuances and the expertise and the intricacies of basketball with JJ Redick, who you knew was aspiring to be a head coach and you knew you wanted your coach, Dolphin Ham out. How you gonna do that and think that ain't gonna look cool? Yeah, come on now. I mean, LeBron James, that's the classic case of spitting somebody's face and saying it's raining. It's the classic case of somebody passing gas religiously farting in your damn face and calling it perfume. That's what LeBron James did. Let's stop that. But that's not J.J. redick's fault. J.J. redick was an aspiring coach. Only experience he had was coaching his son in, you know, Little league basketball. And he became the head coach of the Los Angeles. And let me stay. For the record, not to throw any shade on anybody. I'm just telling you my personal belief, no inside information or anything like that. But it's something that walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. I'm not going to call it a mongoose. When you offered Danny Hurley, I thought you wanted Danny Hurley as an organization until you offered him 11 million a year. He was a two time national champion, considered universally as arguably the greatest coach of college basketball. At this particular moment in time, since Mike has stepped away from the game. Danny Hurley is that dude at UConn. And after all that success, you offer him 11 million when Eric Spoester, Greg Popovich, Steve Kerr, now Ty Lu and others were all getting paid over 14, 15 million dollars a year. Come on now. You wanted Danny Hurley that badly, you come up with more, more money than 11. But they didn't do that. And so because they didn't do that, the belief was you really didn't want them. You just used them as cover to get the guy who you really wanted, which was J.J. redick. But you wanted to gloss over that because you didn't want LeBron James and the Lakers organization. Look, what's so bad for wanting JJ Redick all along after LeBron James had made it so obvious that he was looking for a new coach other than Darvin Ham. That is the belief, period. There's no way around that. Having said that, back to JJ Redick and Charles Barkley in terms of what JJ Redick said about the media. And I was watching Colin Cowherd because I happen to respect the hell out of Colin Cowherd at Fox Sports. He's my former colleague. He's my colleague, my contemporary, my former colleague at espn and he did an outstanding job as a radio host for years for ESPN Radio. I've always considered us at ESPN suffering a loss by losing Colin Cowherd. And I forgot the name of the guy that's with him. Jason something, if I remember correctly. And he was talking about how tnt, you know, they, they messed up the game of basketball because they're so ultra critical. I call BS on that. When guys deserve to be celebrated, they celebrate you. When guys deserve to be criticized, they criticize you. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Bernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal are exceptional. The Emmy award winners, they're the A listers. They're class personified. They don't get personal. They just talking about your game and what you put on display. And if that's what you put on display as a product, they didn't blame the league. I'd say you could blame the league because of the rule changes that were incorporated and the fact that you took defense, you compromised defense to some, to a strong degree, by the way. You compromised opposing def. Defenses because you want it to be more viewer friendly. You wanted more offense. You wanted to, you know, basically bring more Europeans into the game. And by doing so, you also incorporated more three point shooting. And when people are doing all of that and you see folks jacking up 3040 threes a game, that's not the most attractive thing to see, period. It's not a Crime to point that out. Maybe they go a bit excessive with it because they having a good time and they're having fun. But the reality, JJ is that sometimes I'm not talking about the Lakers, I'm talking about overall. Sometimes we watch the game and it sucks. And here's where J.J. hurts himself. J.J. knows that's true. J.J. can bring up modern day. The modern day game compared to old school. And I get all of that. It was far more physical in the 80s and the 90s. The athletes weren't as great as they are today. They didn't run like Giselle's the way they do today. They didn't do a lot of things. I get all of that. But it doesn't take away from the fact that the game at times is less attractive than it once was. And it certainly doesn't take away from the fact that sometimes you look at dudes and you are questioning their effort. Whereas before you did it because you couldn't. Because players had to go out there and earn their money because the rules in terms of you getting your money didn't work in their favor. If they didn't put in that work, you certainly didn't get the endorsement dollars and the endorsement deals that you ultimately are able to get now if you didn't have success attached to it. So people like jj, who's been around long enough to see it, and along with the cat, the crew at tnt, they all know it. It's not that they're right every time, but their points are not to be summarily dismissed. And so to blame the media, and this is another thing too. And this has nothing to do with JJ Redick and has nothing to do with tnt. This is about social media. Everybody's a hater. You think we fools? You're just doing that because you're creating clickbait. Oh, he's a hater. Somebody disagreed and y'all had a discussion and it's the word. Destroyed this person, destroyed this person. When all you're doing it is to create a headline and draw clicks. But then it goes a step further because you got former players that come out and they go like, yo, you know what? Always hating on the brothers. Well, if you playing against a brother and I'm pointing out a brother, bust your ass. How the hell am I sitting up there hating on a brother? How am I not supporting the brother that whipped your ass? It don't make sense. But this is what people do. And so we have to pay attention to that and see that for what it is that's the reality of the situation. We've had heightened level of sensitivity. People come up with all of this kind of shit to and moan and complain about instead of dealing with the real issue. Are players playing as hard, are they as committed? Do they take care of their bodies and their conditioning in the off season? Do you earn your money? Are you committed to earning your money? Do you come back with the next season with the same game you had last season, the same level of conditioning you had last season, etc. Do you do anything to improve? That's why we shouldn't marvel at LeBron James. It's not because of his dunks, his game, whatever. It's because of age 40 still, from age 17, 18, 19, 20, all the way to 40, LeBron James always is ready, conditioning wise. He doesn't cheat the game. But JJ, there's quite a few people who do say JJ's not totally wrong because we should heighten our level of sensitivity in terms of excoriating the game. But that don't mean we got to put blinders on and ignore what the hell we seeing. And I think that's important to say. Stephen A. Smith show right here over the Digital Airways of YouTube. No doubt coming at you, as I love to do, at the very least three days a week. Um, of course, I wanted to touch on that. Anyway, it's time to move on. Coming up, President Biden's made a few headlines when he sat down with USA Today for a wide ranging interview. I'll get into that just ahead. Don't worry about that. But not before I get in to what I'm about to talk about and who I'm about to introduce. I'm not the only person that's not afraid to point out the mistakes the Democratic Party made in the November election. There's somebody else. He's far more popular than me when it comes to subject matters of this nature. His name is the one and only Bill Ma. He had a few things to say as well. And he's got a comedy special coming out this Friday. Don't miss it. The Stephen A. Smith show right here over the Digital Airways of YouTube and iHeartRadio. Up next with the one and only Bill Ma from Real Time with Bill Ma on hbo. He'll be back, right, yours truly, in a minute. All right, y'all listen up and listen good. You do know that the NFL playoffs are here, right? And we're in the middle of the college football playoffs, too. So with all that action going on, the Stephen A. Smith show wants to make sure you take advantage of it all. That's why we've partnered with Prize Picks, the best place to get real money action while watching your favorite sports. You see with Prize Picks you pick two or more of your favorite players and then you simply select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Pick Jalen Hurts passing yards, Anthony Davis rebounds and John Carlson's total time on the ice all in the same entry. It takes just 60 seconds and then you sit back and watch. So download the app today and use Code SAs to get 50 instantly after you play your first five dollar lineup. Again, download the app and use Code SAs to get 50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. Prize picks Run your game. Now let's look at my winning picks today. I'll be picking for this week's College Football Playoff games. First up, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard facing Penn State University on Thursday. More or less than 160 and a half passing yards. I like the way Notre Dame's been looking. He's primarily a runner as opposed to a passer. But I just have a feeling in this game against Penn State, more is the way to go. I think this is going. It's going to have more points than people realize in this game. Okay, next up, Penn State signal caller Drew Eller facing Notre Dame's defense more or less than 189 and a half passing yards. I said the same thing. The same thing applies. I think both teams are going to get it going offensively. We're going to go with more on this one as well. Next up, we got University of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers playing the Ohio State on Friday. More or less than 239 and a half passing yards. I'm going with more on this, but here's the reason why that's the only shot Texas has a win in this game because you're not stopping Ohio State from putting up some damn points. This ain't Michigan in the season finale. What we've seen against Tennessee and what we've seen against Oregon, I think we're going to see more the same in terms of their offensive production in this game. They're going to put up some points. In order for Texas to have a chance, they're going to have to answer the call. I know everybody's saying their defense is underrated. You know what? Don't get caught up in what you saw against Arizona State, damn it. I am. And I understand that kid Scatterble is no joke. He's a man amongst boys and maybe that was the reason why. But I didn't like what I saw. And no matter what, Arizona has one offensive weapon. Look at all the damn weapons the Ohio State has. If you have problems keeping them from scoring some, some points, what you gonna do with the Ohio State? That's how I look at it. I see points. I'm going more. Finally, we've got Ohio State's quarterback, Will Howard. More or less than 252 and a half passing yards. Have you seen Jeremiah Smith? Have you seen this kid Igbuka? Have you seen these brothers with Will Howard thought that's who Will I was asked to throw the ball to? Damn right it's gonna be more. Hell yeah, it's gonna be more. More, more, more, more. Yes, that's what we gonna do. And it ain't just because of prize picks. But that's a good reason why.

G (40:41)

I'm 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 podcasts.

H (41:45)

September 1979. Virginia's top prison band, Edge of Daybreak, is about to record their debut album Behind Bars in just five hours.

Nate Thompson (41:57)

Okay, we're rolling.

Stephen A. Smith (41:59)

One, two, three, four.

H (42:03)

I'm Jamie Petras, music and culture writer. For the past five years, I've been talking to the band's three surviving members. They're out of prison now and in their 70s, their past behind them. But they also have some unfinished business.

Stephen A. Smith (42:19)

The end of Daybreak, Eyes of Love was supposed to been followed up by another album.

H (42:25)

It's a story about the liberating power of music, the American justice system, and ultimately, second chances. Listen to Soul incarcerated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Stephen A. Smith (42:47)

Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith show right here over the Digital Airways of YouTube. And of course, iHeartRadio my next guest is a standup comedian, podcaster, and host of the long running HBO political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher. He is also the individual that's got a new standup comedy special coming out. Is anyone else seeing this? January 10th is the date. The one and only Bill Maher, my buddy. What's going on? Big time. How are you, sir? How's everything?

Nate Thompson (43:16)

I feel like the title of that show was made for you to announce it. Is anyone else seeing you say that better than I do?

Stephen A. Smith (43:25)

Well, please, please. But you do it better. You deserve all the credit in the world. But I want to know how you're feeling right now. Bill, this comedy is coming out. Are you in a comedic mood? Are you interested in laughing and having a good time? In light of the things that have transpired over the last few months, in the last few weeks, and what you've had to deal with personally in terms of speaking your piece, particularly to the left, how do you feel about that?

Nate Thompson (43:50)

Absolutely. In fact, the very first thing I say in this special is we're here to laugh. You know, this show business. Okay? If you're still brooding about the election, you're in the wrong building. I'm here just to make you laugh. And I'm not going to pre hate anything that hasn't happened yet. And also, look around. Are you really suffering that much? Now, Trump, could he blow up the world on the second day? Yeah, he could. But until he does, I'm not going to chase every crazy thing he does. And I'm not going to get upset about things that haven't happened yet. And when I look around, America is, you know, it's a place with a lot of problems, but also compared to the rest of the world, it's doing better than most places. And, you know, a lot of people are just living their best lives.

Stephen A. Smith (44:49)

Are you this way, period, or did it take you a little while to get to this point after the election?

Nate Thompson (44:54)

No, I mean, I was ready for Trump to win. I thought that she would win. I thought that America always basically moves forward and not backward, but I was wrong. I was certainly not surprised because I did not think she was a great candidate. But look, this kind of. It's not like this country does not need some sort of clean sweeping. Now, I don't know what that's going to be. I've said this before. This country needs a colonic. I would not have chosen Donald Trump to be the doctor to administer that colonic. But I'm curious to see, for example, what Elon Musk is going to do. I'm curious to see how influential he's going to be. He is tasked with reinventing the government, basically. He said some things which I think are great, and I'm on the page with. The first thing he said was we're gonna ask everybody in the government who has been staying home, and that's been a lot of people since the pandemic to come back to work. And we expect about 20% of the workforce to then just quit. And we welcome that. And I thought, yeah, that's probably okay, because if 20% of the government workforce quit, would we notice the difference? I'm guessing we probably wouldn't. He also said he was going to go after the F35. Okay, perfect. That's exactly the kind of thing we should do. This is a fighter jet that they've been funding to the tune of like a trillion dollars. And he said, first of all, it's obsolete. We don't use fighter jets anymore. We won't in the very near future. They're just going to get pilots killed. And we have drones now, so why are we spending a trillion dollars on something we don't need? So if, if, if that's what's gonna go on in the government, I'm all for it.

Stephen A. Smith (46:52)

What are your thoughts about somebody that would sit back and say, okay, Elon Musk, I believe, South African, obviously owns Tesla, owns X, formerly known as Twitter. One man having entirely too much power and now he has just the ear of the president, if not more. Once Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 21, is this guy really going to look out for America's best interest, or is he going to look out for his own best interest? How does Bill Maher answer that question in light of all that you've seen? Because you've been one of the individuals speaking out on behalf of Musk because you've always been incredibly impressed by his brilliance, his genius. He's been on your show at least once that I can recall. And obviously you felt the way that you felt about him. What are your thoughts about him?

Nate Thompson (47:40)

Well, I thought, first of all, it's kind of ironic, you know, that the world's richest man and a former ex president who is a billionaire won the election and really stuck it to the elitists, huh?

Stephen A. Smith (47:56)

That's right.

Nate Thompson (47:58)

But, you know, look, I've criticized Elon where I think he was wrong or he wasn't being honest. I mean, Twitter, look, when he took over Twitter, it was way too left. I mean, that's Why I stopped going on it because.

Stephen A. Smith (48:15)

Right.

Nate Thompson (48:16)

You know, as I used to say, anything I want to say on Twitter, I can't say on Twitter because you'd be immediately excoriated because it was politically incorrect. And it used to be when it started, a fun place where you could just say funny things. And then it got to be a place where the woke took over and everything was just a minefield. And why, why put it out there? Just to get yourself trouble? So I stopped going there. And Elon said, well, when I take over, I'm going to make it an even playing field. I'm going to make it a place where the left and the right can both be. But he didn't. He just completely reversed it and now it's just a place for the right. So he didn't follow up on that. And I keep saying that. And he, you know, and he also like applauds people on Twitter who should not be applauded. I mean, really crazy kind of far right people. So he also says things that are just not true very often. He doesn't seem to care about researching things very often. But I mean, good God, Tesla, Starlink, Neuralink, SpaceX. I mean, one man has created like three or four of the most important developments in technology in the last 20 years. I mean, you got to give the guy a little credit for that. And also, I will say this about him, I don't think he cares about money now. He has way too much of it. There has to be a certain point, and I am certainly no socialist, but there has to be a certain point where we just decide, as we did, by the way, 100 years ago when it was John D. Rockefeller. John D. Rockefeller had, I think at one point, 2 was worth 2% of the gross national product of the country. And they did something about it. They made laws about monopolies and so forth. They broke up Standard Oil. I think Elon is approaching that money. There's a certain number that I think we just have to say to somebody, okay, you won, you won the money game. But like, how much is too much? Can one person have a trillion dollars? It just seems like that's taking it a little too far.

Stephen A. Smith (50:35)

I totally agree with you.

Nate Thompson (50:37)

Again, I don't think he cares about money. That's not what motivates him. And I would be curious to see what he's going to do because again, America, it's not like it's not completely bloated. It is, and it's gotten out of hand and somebody needs to go in there and do what he proposes to do. But we'll see in, in, in. In execution. Everything is in the details.

Stephen A. Smith (51:06)

I recently sat down with a guy by the name of Dave Rubin. I'm sure you are aware of who he is.

Nate Thompson (51:11)

Yeah, I know Dave. I went to a Laker game with him.

Stephen A. Smith (51:14)

That's right. He bragged about going to the Lakers game with you. I told him you and I went to the Lakers game together. Yes, we did as well recently. And, and, and we. And we just. He and I just finished talking and one of the things that I called him, I said, listen, he's. He's not a lieutenant or general or whatever, but let's say he is, meaning Bill Maher. Consider me a soldier because I stand directly behind him in support of all the things that he has said, particularly over the last several years, about the left and how the left pretty much lost its way. Getting personal with you for a second. How difficult, if difficult at all, has it been for you to deal with some of the things that have been thrown in your direction just because you were on your show telling the truth about what the left did wrong and how it got in its own way and what it needed to do to fix the party? Your thoughts?

Nate Thompson (52:06)

You know. You know, Stephen A. You can't have everything. That's what you come to if you live long enough. Would I like to have everybody on my side? Would I like to have everybody be my fan? Of course. Was it not great when some super woke people left because I wasn't on their page? Yeah, I wish everybody was still my fan, but you can't have that. Do I think I deserve a bunch of Emmys that I would never get because this town is woker than I am? Yeah, I do. I don't think we have the same criteria about what constitutes excellence. It's okay. You can't have everything. I would take a million times if you offered it to me against those things. The joy of being able to speak my mind as I see it and the love that that gets me from people from all stripes who appreciate that. The things that people say to me. I've been out with every type of celebrity. They don't say the things they say to me to other celebrities. That means more to me than anything. But things that people say to me and how much it means to them that they feel like there's somebody out there who is never pulling a punch and who will just call out anybody wherever they are in the political spectrum if he thinks they're saying something goofy. That really means the world to me. So I have that, and that's plenty.

Stephen A. Smith (53:35)

Absolutely. You deserve it. Make no mistake about it. I wanted to know, in light of what you just articulated, your thoughts about Mark Zuckerberg coming out recently. I think it was yesterday day or so, and he's talking about what role Meta is going to play, and now they're no longer going to fact check, and they're not going to be as stridently in favor of the left or whatever the case may be. I think that he's just trying to curry favor with Donald Trump or whatever. I wanted to know what you made of that and what do you think is going to be the fallout from that, knowing what you know about the political stratosphere and specifically about Donald Trump?

Nate Thompson (54:13)

I'm a free speech guy, you know, I. I believe not in absolute free speech. That's not even in the Constitution. And of course, we have the example of, you know, yelling fire in a crowded theater and so forth. There are things that you can't do. But I think he's basically right. We've gone way too far toward fact. Whose facts? I mean, Covid was a perfect example of this. And I think that's something that really opened a lot of people's eyes to what's going on with censorship in this country. We were not allowed to really discuss this. And it was a new phenomenon, this new pathogen we had. It should have been discussed. We're finding out now as each week rolls by more and more, it's pretty obvious that Covid, the origin of it, was the lab. I think in 50 years, when people look back, they'll say, wait a second. There was a lab in Wuhan where the disease started, that was studying this disease and using gain of function research on it, and they were debating whether this was the cause of it. Now, it could have been the wet markets, absolutely. We don't know for sure. But the fact that we weren't even allowed to discuss that it was coming from a lab, which again, it probably was. Now we know that should tell you all you need to know. The fact that Justin Trudeau just stepped down in Canada. I mean, this guy had a very high approval rating five years ago, and he left really very unpopular because Canada became that kind of place where you really did not have the kind of free speech we do and many other countries in Europe. Now, this is part of what Mark Zuckerberg was talking about. We don't want to become like these countries in Europe where they have rules about what you can say that's going to be censored simply because it's hurting somebody's feelings. You know, you can't say something about Islam because it's Islamophobia. But what if it's true? You know, we just had a terrible incident in New Orleans that was a jihadist attack. We want to be able to speak about that plainly and honestly without worrying somebody's going to say don't say that because it's not all Muslims. Well, no one's saying it's all Muslims. We're saying we need to discuss about this honestly and openly and patently. And you can't do that if somebody's looking over your shoulder and saying, well this is going to hurt somebody's feelings. Okay, Feelings are not as important as the first Amendment.

Stephen A. Smith (56:55)

Fair enough. And it's one of the things that people allude to and complain about as you have about the left because of woke culture. With that being said, one would ask Bill Maher, in this day and age, why would you still call yourself a liberal or a Democrat as opposed to an independent, considering how you thinking and how polar opposite that appears to be to what's transpired with the Democratic Party. Cuz I'm reading this article from the Wall Street Journal and essentially, to paraphrase not exact word, not your exact words, but you were talking about you what you still consider yourself. But that party is not the party that I've been looking at in recent memory.

Nate Thompson (57:33)

Yeah, well I've always been an independent. I mean I never threw in with the Democrats because I always knew they'd disappoint me at some point.

Stephen A. Smith (57:41)

I've joined your party. I've joined your party.

Nate Thompson (57:44)

Yeah, but old school liberal. Yes. I mean that's, I think what I always was and always will be. As they say in the special, the people who are saying, oh you're Republican now. No, I'm not a Republican and I never will be a Republican for all the reasons I haven't been. They're too religious. They're fiscal hypocrites who think it's awful when America spends money it doesn't have except when they're in office and then it's always perfectly okay. They're in denial about racism, they're in denial about the environment. They're always blaming the underprivileged when they should be blaming the overprivileged. And then they added to that shitty mixtape, they don't believe in democracy anymore and they threw their lot in with a sociopath named Donald Trump who thinks that elections only count when they win. So they have a sizable lead in being the more threatening party, I think, to this country. But that doesn't mean I'm going to hold my tongue about what I think is wrong about the left. And I don't. And there's a lot and old school liberal. I could give you so many examples. It's a very big part of the show where I'm talking about the fact that people somehow think that wokeness is an extension of liberalism when very often it's the opposite of liberalism. I mean, just like the Israel situation, the liberal position has always been a two state solution. I still think that's the solution. Well, that's not the position of the woke. They want from the river to the sea. So you can have that position. But don't tell me that's the liberal position. The river to the sea does not mean a two state solution. It means you want all of it for the Palestinians. That's fine. That's your position. It's not the liberal position. I haven't changed. You have.

Stephen A. Smith (59:43)

Is anyone else seeing this? Your stand up comedy special scheduled for January day debuting January 10th on HBO? As you were putting this together, formulating your thoughts? Bill Maher, if you see, I'm assuming you had to worry about because I don't think you worried about anybody. But if you had to worry about anybody in today's world where you got to worry about anything that you say or whatever, who are you more worried about? The right or the left? When it came to making sure that you said what you needed to say, you are an authentic, as honest as you possibly could be. But you didn't cross the line. Who would you find yourself more worried about as a comedian in this day and age?

Nate Thompson (60:24)

Well, first of all, my job is to cross the line. That's what a stand up comedian's job. Not all stand up, not all comedy. Some comedy's just silly, but not mine. So you know, how do you know where the line is until people like me cross it to a degree. I'm never upset when people in the audience recoil. You know, I don't want to make the whole show recoiling. You want to be popular. But there's a couple of times in the show where people just are like, oh, you know, I mean, we were just talking about the Israel situation. There's a line in there where I say, you know, really marching for Hamas, you're marching for terrorist groups. It's like rooting for the planes on nine, 11. Well, that's a line that gives people pause. They're like, whoa, did you really go there? And that happens a number of times in the show. It should. That's what a comedian should do. At least a comedian like me, that's what my job is. So do I worry about the people who get so upset about that that they're not going to watch? They're not watching anyway. They left the building a while ago with me. They know I'm not safe. And if you want safe or you want someone who's just going to tell you what you already believe and just be the echo chamber for you, I'm not your guy and never have been. So do I worry about those people? Not really. The other people I could worry about would be Donald Trump. I mean, he does flirt with authoritarianism. There is no doubt about it. Do I think he's going to start arresting comedians? I really don't. But you know, he's talking about invading Greenland and annexing Canada. You know, he says a lot of. He says a lot of stuff. STEPHEN A. He really does. I don't think it's going to happen. But let me put it this way. Under George Bush or anybody else, it never even entered my mind. With Trump, anything's possible. Anything is possible.

Stephen A. Smith (62:33)

My very last question to you would be this. Outside of making people laugh, which I know you want to do, this is a comedy special after all. Is anyone, is anyone else seeing this? Is there something else you're hoping to accomplish with this comedy special? And if so, what is that exactly?

Nate Thompson (62:52)

Yeah, I mean, I think there's a theme to it and that is that we have to talk to each other. That we can't just cut each other off. That's one thing I really don't like about the left these days. They're very exclusionary. If you're not exactly on the page with them, if you don't believe in the one true opinion that they have, then they don't even want to talk to you. We saw this after the election where a number of people were advising family members to cut off people in your own family over the holidays. We're talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas because they voted for the wrong guy in the election. You're not going to talk to people in your family. Yeah, no, no, no, that's not good. But I'm not down with that. So I think if there's any message I want people to have, it's, you're going to have to talk to people because half the country is not self deporting. They're still going to be here. And just because they voted for Donald Trump, which I would never do, doesn't mean they're bad people. I don't want to hate half the country and I don't hate half the country.

Stephen A. Smith (64:02)

Bill Maher, man, I love the relationship that we've cultivated. I love my appearances on Club Random. I've had an absolute blast. It's the only time in my life I've had a contact high in front of of the camera. It's all because of you. Snoop Dogg is very, very proud of me for that. I wish you nothing but the best. Can't wait to see this comedy Special coming out January 10th. Is anyone else seeing this? You know I will be in front of my tube watching. I can't wait to see it. Happy for you. Proud of you and looking forward to talking to you down the line, my brother. You take it easy, okay?

Nate Thompson (64:32)

Thank you, man. I love you and I hope I get to see you soon.

Stephen A. Smith (64:36)

You will. All the best of you. Take care. Thanks again to the one and only Bill Maher. Always, always great talking to him. I love taping that interview with him just a few hours ago, obviously. Coming up, President Joe Biden believes he would have beat Donald Trump had he stayed in the presidential race. Plus, Biden gave a surprise answer when asked if he had the stamina for another four years. I'll get into all of that and then some right here on the Stephen A. Smith Show. Don't go away. Everyone right now needs to stop what they're doing and listen up and listen good. With all the big time sports action that's happening each and every day. NFL games, NBA games and the college football playoffs, the Stephen A. Smith show wants to make sure you are taking advantage of all of it. That's why we've partnered with prizepix, the largest fantasy sports platform in Orland, to help you cash in on all your sports knowledge. You see, Prize Picks is a daily fantasy app where you pick two or more of your favorite players and then you select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Choose from any of your favorite players. Saquon Barkley, Jaylen Brown and Steph Curry, all in the same entry. Then sit back, watch and chill. The list is endless, y'all. And now with Prize picks, Flex Friday option, you can still cash out even if your lineup isn't perfect. That's right, every Friday. Just look for the protected play. So when will your cash back pack? And get this, Prospects now offers MasterCard for quick and easy deposits into your account. During this sports season. Make your picks in less than 60 seconds and turn your sports opinions into real money all season long on prospects. So download the app today and use Code SAs to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app and use Code SAs to get $50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. Lineup Prize Picks Run your I'm Hunter.

G (66:24)

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 Hunting for answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

H (67:28)

September 1979 Virginia's top prison band, Edge of Daybreak, is about to record their debut album Behind Bars in just five hours.

Nate Thompson (67:40)

Okay, we're rolling.

Stephen A. Smith (67:42)

One, two, three, four.

H (67:46)

I'm Jamie Petras, music and culture writer. For the past five years I've been talking to the band's three surviving members. They're out of prison now and in their 70s, their past behind them. But they also have some unfinished business.

Stephen A. Smith (68:02)

The everyday rake Eyes of Love was supposed to have been followed up by another actor album.

H (68:08)

It's a story about the liberating power of music, the American justice system and ultimately second chances. Listen to Soul Incarcerated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Stephen A. Smith (68:26)

Game. Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith show right here with the Digital Airways with YouTube and of course iHeartRadio. It's time to get into some politics cause I got a few things to talk about. Actually I don't. So it's just one really particular thing. With less than two weeks remaining in his presidency, Mr. Joe Biden President Joe Biden sat down for a wide ranging interview with the publication USA Today. Biden made several headlines during the conversation, but I wanna focus on a few things that stood out. Okay? The President says he still believes he could have defeated President Elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election based on the poll numbers he saw at the time. Time, however, Biden expressed no such confidence when asked whether he had the stamina to serve another four years in office. It's presumptuous, he said, to say that I would have beaten Trump. But I think, yes, when Trump was running again for reelection, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him. But I also wasn't looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. And so I did talk about passing the baton, but I don't know if I could have served another four years. Who the hell knows? End quote. First of all, that quote is verification on several levels. It's validation on several levels why President Biden should have bowed his ass out of the race. You see, you can't let him off the hook here. So let me get this straight. You knew that you probably couldn't go another four years, but you ran for election. You didn't bow out. You didn't do what you had promised to do was to was to be a transitional president and pass the baton to a younger generation. You didn't do that. Then you rent. Then you sat up there and you avoided primaries. And then you went and showed up on June 27 and looked lost. As Anthony Scaramucci on News Nation political analyst, former Trump guy said this about Joe Biden at the time, he looked like a patient in a nursing home waiting for his applesauce. But you're saying that before that you knew that you probably couldn't give us four more years, but you ran anyway. That is pathetic. That is inexcusable. But by the way, let me take it a step further. It's also delusional that you would have beat Trump. Let's state that for the obvious because clearly the American people were spoken. And if they spoke against Kamala Harris, the likelihood is that they would have spoke against you because of the things you yourself just mentioned. This is the kind of stuff that's going to hurt the Democratic Party for years to come. Because you see, if he felt that way and he had those reservations, even though he believed he could beat Trump in a runoff of the election, the bottom line is the Democratic Party knew and they tried to hide him. You don't have credibility any longer. Now, that's not to say the Republicans are rife with credibility themselves. I mean, I'm listening to the pomp and circumstance that Trump is throwing out there. Greenland, I want that. I want that. Not a bad thing. Not a bad thing to bloviate about because you're competing with China and Russia, and so we're talking about commerce there. We're talking about national security issues there. I get that part. Okay. We want to go call it the Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico. Really? Really. That's what we do. That's what we're doing. Bluster. How much is that going to amount to? What does that really, really mean? So we gonna see more of it. And Trump's gonna be Trump. But when I saw that quote from Biden, I said, thank God he's leaving. Thank God. I've had enough. I'm not gonna pardon Hunter. And I don't mind you. If it was my son, I'd have pardoned him. Oh, I'm not gonna pardon. We made decisions. Not gonna happen. Then you went against you. That happened. It happened. You're about to rule the law. We're about to rule the law. Yeah. Really? Really. But then you're not. I'm so sick of all of this. I don't even want to talk about it no more. Let's go to the tweets. Let's just go to the tweets. I'm done with this. I'm done. Thank God he's leaving. Thank God he's leaving that Carlos Boozer and Ryan Hollins, since my producers aren't. Aren't wise enough to blow some stuff up because they don't see that I don't wear glasses like they do. Okay, I actually cannot see that, but it is what it is. Ryan Hollins really popped out with the Carlos. But no, I don't want my producers in my head talking about, you gonna send to me. No, you should have had it blown up. I want to see it now and keep this in the show. So. Because I want the audience, though, I'm getting on my producers because we're trying to make fools of me because they know I can't see the damn thing. Okay, I can't see that either. But nevertheless, it's clearly something about the hairline. It's Ryan Hollins. It's Carlos Boozer. All I gotta say is this. Damn it, I'm jealous. I wish my headline was like that. I really do. That would be nice. I wish. I wish my headline was like that. Even, like, even Ryan's, which is. Look kind of crooked there. I still wish it was that way. Carlos. I don't want. I don't ever want my hair shining like that. You know what I'm saying? It looked like you threw some damn blue paint on your head at the time. That's Carlos Boozer when he was younger. That's not him right now. But nevertheless, you know, Ryan's attainment, too, but I get it. But I gotta admit, I'm jealous of the hairline. I wish my hairline was about 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 inches forward. That would be nice. I ain't gonna front. That's one tweet. Give me the next one, please, at GTA 6 plus, right. Stephen A. Smith, will you play GTA 6 when it releases? Hmm. I didn't think about it, but I might. Why not? I can do that. I mean, they'll have to teach me because I never did it before. I don't know whether my nephew, his. His son or one of my producers who pay attention to this kind of stuff. I don't know, but I tried. I'm all about it. I'm all about it. Next tweet. What we got? Which Batman would win a fight, Ben Affleck or Michael Keaton? Well, I think in a fight, it would be Ben Affleck. That's a big boy. Ben Affleck ain't no small dude. Plus, he's from Boston, but I ain't gonna sleep on Michael Keaton. I think Michael Keaton was more suave. Ben Affleck is a big boy. I'm definitely gonna go to. I like Ben Affleck. I just didn't like him in the Batman movies. I loved him in the Accountant. Loved him into it in the Accountant. He was great. He was great. Okay. I didn't like the Batman movies. I didn't like Gigi with him and J. Lo. But I like most of the other stuff that Ben Affleck. I liked him in the town. I thought he was great in the town. Okay. I like Ben Affleck in a lot of things, just not Batman and Gigi or whatever it was. All right, that's it for this edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. I got to get on out of here. Thanks again to Tory, to Tori Cooper for joining me for the show at the top of the show today. Thank you so much. And thank the great Bill Maher. He is phenomenal. And when it comes to politics, it's must see tv. Real time with Bill Maher, especially New Rules. New Rules is my favorite segment in all of television. My favorite segment in all of television. It's the only thing I ever looked at on television and literally said I'd like to copy, you know, because I'm not a place dangerous. But I love New Rules on Real Time with Bill Ma on HBO loved it. I think it's great. I think he's great. And I think his, his comedy special is going to be great as well. So make sure y'all don't miss it. Until next time, this is Stephen A. Signing off. Peace and love, everybody. God bless.

Bill Maher (76:08)

Foreign.

Greg Rosenthal (76:24)

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 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.

Julie Swerbinks (76:55)

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

Nate Thompson (76:59)

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.

Julie Swerbinks (77:02)

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

Nate Thompson (77:05)

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?

Julie Swerbinks (77:11)

Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

Nate Thompson (77:14)

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

Julie Swerbinks (77:19)

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