← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
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- [00:00]
Stephen A. Smith
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Robert Costa
Another pina colada.
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Stephen A. Smith
Yes, please. Open a new retail location with 36% more square feet.
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Callers / Audience Members
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Stephen A. Smith
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Robert Costa
You're hired and you're hired.
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Stephen A. Smith
Shopify has the world's best converting checkout up to 36% better than other e commerce platforms. What you do with those extra sales is up to you. Switch to Shopify today@shopify.com setup and get a $1 trial. Shopify.com setup straight shooter with Stephen A. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you as I love to do every week, every Wednesday night, to be specific, from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airways of SiriusXM POTUS radio. There's a lot to get into today, make no mistake about it. Robert Costa from CBS News is coming on the show. Chief Washington analyst for CBS News is coming on to talk to us about what has been transpiring in the world of politics, specifically as it pertains to President Donald Trump. Obviously, for those of you who have been living under Iraq, regardless of the fact that there's a war with Iran, that gas prices are still up, that inflationary issues are still something that's pertinent, gas prices, cost of food, beverages, all of this other stuff is still something that's on the minds of the American people. And we have the president on the record talking about how he hasn't thought about that at all, nor does he particularly care because as he's negotiating with Iran, he can't be concerned about such things. There's something else that's been happening and that we all have to pay attention to, and that's the fact that this, I don't even want to call this a revenge tour, even though it is as it pertains to Senator John Cornyn out of Texas. He's the latest victim of Trump. Trump is not playing around. Trump is wielding his power over the gop, and it seems to be very little that's being done to stop it. To be quite honest with you. You can call it a revenge tour, you could call it whatever you want. But it is what it is and in his eyes, is working effectively. You know, taking down one Senator, or one representative after another. John Cornyn is out. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy is out. Representative Thomas Massie is on his way out. And according to reporting, several more Republicans could soon find themselves in Trump's crosshairs. Because he wants these folks, remember Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger? He's out. I mean, he's not stopping. We know what he did in Indiana. We know what he did in Louisiana. We just saw what he's done in Texas. And this is for Senator and John Cornyn, that 99% of the time, according to reports, he has sided with Trump and has been a staunch supporter of Trump. Nevertheless, a week before the runoff for the Texas Senate seat, a week before Trump came out and threw his full support behind Ken Paxton, longtime Attorney General in Texas, rife with so many damn scandals. I mean, you. You, one could argue he looks a lot like Trump. You can understand why Trump supported him. I mean, I mean, some of the stuff that this guy has been associated with, scandal after scandal after scandal that he's had to involve himself with somehow, some way, he's going to be the Republican nominee for the United States Senate out of the state of Texas, going up against James Talarico. It's the one thing that has both Democrats and Republicans agreeing with one another, by the way, because this is the Democrat. This is the candidate that the Democrats wanted. I mean, with everything from. From. From criminal activity and, you know, letting sex offenders off with, you know, with a slap on a wrist, per se, to being in the midst of a divorce because of accusations of adultery, because of supposedly numerous affairs that he may have had, as so alleged, by his significant other. The bottom line is, when you look at Ken Paxton, this is not the ideal candidate. And he was behind in the polls until Trump gave his endorsement. And then after he got the endorsement, he got about 63 to 64% of the vote to corn in 36. So if you're a Republican, right now, you are really feeling this. You're Trump. Right now, you're feeling it even more. You're very, very happy because there's an abundance of things that's flowing in your direction. See, to me, if you're Trump, what you're doing is this. This could potentially have a detrimental effect on the midterms. Trump's whole thing is about keeping folks in line to position himself to get the hell, what the hell he wants, whenever he wants from whoever he damn well pleases on the right. And they use words like loyalty and all of this other stuff, which is. Does not clearly does not involve the American people. Clearly, it involves him and what he wants. But the point is, is that the American people are sending a message, at least those who supported him. That's exactly what they want from their politicians, because they don't care how you get it done. They just want the fact that they just want you to get it done. They want you to position yourself to push forward an agenda and execute in ways that few politicians have been able to do in all their years in office. This is what they want. This is what they wanted from Donald Trump. And so when you look at it from that standpoint, you got to say to yourself, regardless of what the people may feel, regardless of what Senate figures and Republican representatives in Congress may feel, the bottom line is, since they've proven that they're more interested in keeping their jobs and actually doing their jobs, it's a win for Trump because he said in a message that what he wants, he's going to get. Otherwise, he's going to get you booted out of there, which is why Cassidy and Massey and Raffensperger and now Cornyn are gone or on their way out. If you're Donald Trump, that's the message that you want to send. And in my estimation, if you're the Democrats, what you gonna do about that? What you gonna do about that? Because, you see, if all he's doing is showing that he can get what he wants, when he wants from those that are under the GOP umbrella, then you as a Democrat have to be able to rally the troops to be able to pull something like that off yourself if you're a candidate. And who is that candidate within the Democratic Party? I can't find him yet. Still looking. Got an APB out. Still looking. Can't find it anywhere. Meanwhile, Trump is getting what he wants from his side of the aisle. And even though he's alienated independence and there's no way in hell he'll ever have the left supporting him, if you don't have a candidate and you don't have the appropriate leadership on the left to go up against the folks that he endorses, then he's sitting in the Catburg seat. He's sitting in the driver's seat. That's what this comes down to. Hate to say it, but it's true. It's a lot of people that have looked at me and they get upset when I say stuff like this. They get really, really pissed off. Because the whole point is, why point out anything that the man is doing, right? Because if you're trying to win. You got to know what you up against. That's why you got to know what you're up against. He endorsed seven candidates, are actually eight now. Seven of one between Indiana, Louisiana, now Texas. Seven out of the eight. Cornyn and his side spent over $100 million, $100 million to keep him in office and still lost by more than 25% of the vote after leading like a week or two earlier. That kind of turnaround, that kind of dramatic shift puts Trump in a position where he's able to say, see what's going to happen to you if you mess with me, to folks on the right and as a result, because they are fearful of losing their prowess, their power, etc. Etc. Guess what else they could do other than siding with him? Justify their siding with him by saying they're playing the long game because he ultimately leaves office in 2028. They're playing the long game so they could keep their seat and do the greater good down the line long after he's gone. That's going to be the argument. What's going to be the Democrats argument? When you look at Trump and the GOP and some of the things that have transpired, if you are a Trump voter out there, I will ask you a simple question. Obviously we care about fraud and you understand a taxpayer dollars and all of this other stuff they want to talk about. Can you tell me this? Can you answer this question? It's rhetorical, but ask it. Answer it anyway. How do you feel about knowing that the Trump administration is pushing forth a 1.8 billion dollar slush fund and that some of that money would go to insurrectionists that showed up on Capitol Hill January 6th. It was bad enough that folks stormed the capital Capitol. It was bad enough that they broke into Representatives offices and defecated in their offices and stuff like that. It was bad enough there were people that were harmed and that he still let them off his first day in office by executive order. His first day in office. But then the turnaround and it create a slush fund worth more than 1.8 billion and to pay these folks, worse yet, to actually have control over who gets what because you know that means he's gonna slide some money in for himself, right? This is the situation. How do you feel about that? Those are taxpayer dollars. You know that, right? That's your money. That's my money. That's anybody in this country who pays taxes. You know that, right? Can you justify it with a straight face and act like he's doing the right thing. According to numerous reports, he's already personally pocketed over 4.5 billion himself. Now, what supporters of his will tell you is that he was a businessman before he came into office and that he was worth over a billion dollars. Did you really, really think he was going to stop doing business? That's what they will say. My whole point is I don't give a damn how much money he's making as long as they're ensuring that the American people are the biggest beneficiaries and not himself, his family and his cronies. We've seen no evidence that he's done that as of yet. What are you going to say about that? And yet we sit here right now with this stuff going on, and people will be upset at me for bringing that up, for bringing up the fact that. You know what, when you talk about President Trump, Steven, stop right there. Don't sit up there and point out anything else. Well, guess what? He's going against somebody else, and it's somebody from the opposite side of the aisle. Are they going to be able to win? That's really, really the question mark. And that's what I found myself asking. This supposed revenge tour that he's under, where's that going to get you? I'm looking at the fact that Mr. Paxton is a terrible fundraiser, bringing in only $7.6 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, while Telo raised $40.3 million through the month of March. That's what they pointed out. I'm looking at all the baggage that Paxton brings to the table that Tellarico is obviously going to exploit. But I'm also looking at the fact that it's Texas. We're talking about this Texas. No, Beto Rourke was once very, very popular, and a lot of people thought he was going to win until they found out that in Texas, it's a little bit different, which is why Ted Cruz kept his seat wanted in 2018. Texas is going to be Texas, and we've got somebody that's about to capture a Senate seat. Unless Telo pulls off a miracle that has been involved in, dare I say, similar scandals, scandals that Trump himself obviously is very, very familiar with. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that when you look at Donald Trump right now and what people are saying and how you got some Republicans are very turned off because they were obviously very supportive of Senator John Cornyn, and they have a real big time problem with Trump throwing his endorsement in his muscle behind Paxton at the 11th hour. And so now, as a result, you've got some opposing Trump's $220 million ballroom request and nearly 1.8 billion anti weaponization fund, which is the slush fund that I was alluding to earlier. In the end, where's it going to get them? That all depends on the Democrats. See, I'm gonna keep bringing up the Democrats because guess what? I want you to win, and I don't want you to do stupid stuff that's gonna get in the way of you winning. One of my producers mentioned to me, Graham Platner, this political newcomer and a presumptive Democratic nominee for Maine's 2026 U.S. senate seat. Because obviously, one of the targets that Trump may end up going after is longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. And this guy Platner is going to go up, if not against her, against whomever else is going to try to unseat her. This is a Democrat, mind you. Let's keep this in mind. He's campaigned as a populist outsider focused on housing affordability, workers rights, and what he describes as excessive corporate influence in politics. He's won endorsements from progressives, including Senator Bernie Sanders and the Working Families Party. That's the good news. Here's the bad news. His campaign has been overshadowed by thousands of resurfaced Reddit posts reportedly written under the username p hustle between 2013 and 2021. The post included homophobic slurs, inflammatory comments about race, attacks on police, and other remarks that critics have described as offensive and extreme. Platinum has also faced scrutiny over a tattoo he once had on his chest that resembled the Nazi SS Totkov, or Death's Head symbol. He said he received the tattoo while on leaving Croatia in 2007 without understanding its historical significance, and later covered it up. So let me get this straight. Some dude from Maine in the United States of America didn't understand the historical significance of the Nazi tattoo on his chest? That's a Democrat nominee. That's a presumptive Democratic nominee right there talking. And he covered it up. Now, in fairness, then, he's repeatedly apologized for both the tattoo and the online post saying he did not, that they don't reflect who he is today. He also said that some of the rhetoric was influenced by struggles he experienced after his military service. Yet despite the controversies, Platinum remains the clear front runner for the Democratic nomination and has emerged as one of the most closely watched Senate candidates in the country. Ladies and gentlemen. Why am I bringing that up? Because when you see people beholden to Trump, when you see them utterly Disgusted with everything that he represents and you see what a grifter he appears to be and all of this other stuff, you still have his base completely and unequivocally supporting him based on the candidates they support just because he told them to do so. And you're the Democrats who don't hesitate to use words like Nazi to describe him, meaning President Trump, but a presumptive nominee had a Nazi tattoo on his chest. And me bringing this up will be will incite allegations of, see what you doing? You sound like them, you said. No, I sound like somebody who's trying to win and trying to help you from doing something stupid like supporting that kind of stuff, whether it's indirectly or with your utter silence. Trump is doing what he's doing. He's alienating people within his own party. But the reality is clear. For it to truly, truly be overcome, you're going to have to have viable candidates to exploit and take advantage of the mistakes that he makes. Who do the Democrats have to do that? We're practically a year and a half into Trump's second term and I'm still asking the questions I was asking. Since the election, corn is out, somebody else is in that's like minded, like Trump, thinks like Trump and clearly doesn't mind bending and breaking rules in order to get ahead. The gop, when you have candidates like this, are in no position to make any ethical arguments whatsoever. The way to offset that or the way to knock that down to your favor and their disfavor is to make sure they can't make the same arguments against you. Yet here I am talking about platinum. You see what I'm saying? I'm trying to help, but you got to want to help yourselves. Trump got his base in check. The other side got to get their base together quick, fast and in a hurry. Clock's ticking, midterms are coming, stage is being set. That's all I'm gonna say for now. Robert Costa, Chief White House Correspondent, CBS News. Up next with George Truly, right here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with more in a minute. Game time is creeping up and you're still sitting there trying to figure out how you're gonna watch. The last thing you need is to sign up for yet another streaming service you don't even want just to watch one game. That's where sling steps in. With Sling, you call the shots. Wanna watch that one big NBA matchup on ESPN? Get a one day pass starting at just 499. Wanna catch an entire series of the NHL playoffs on TNT. Check out a seven day pass and if you just can't get enough Slings monthly packages give you even more options. We're at that point in the season where every game, every moment matters. Sling can make sure you're locked in for all of it without paying for a bunch of channels you don't care about. Watch the games you want, when you want with no long term commitments. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com to learn more. That Slinger when it's time to scale your business, it's time for Shopify. Get everything you need to grow the way you want. Like all the way. Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha chings from every channel right in one spot and turn real time reporting into big time opportunities. Take your business to a whole new level. Switch to Shopify. Start your free trial today. They thought they were going to outweigh me. You know we'll outweigh him. He's got the midterms. I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night, that was the prelude to the midterms. People understand that.
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Robert Costa
They know that very simple.
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Stephen A. Smith
Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I'm doing that for the world. I'm not doing it just for us. You heard him. That's the President of the United States speaking. So why he's doing it for the world when everybody and their grandmama knows he's doing it for himself? 27 minutes past hour number one back here on Straight Shooter with yours truly. By the way, I shouldn't have mentioned Susan Collins. Susan Collins is. She's the incumbent. She's in office. She's not going anywhere anytime soon. She's not the one directly on this hit list, even though she could be down the line. There are others though, and I'll get into that with my next guest. He is the chief white Washington analyst for CBS News and a national correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning. Please welcome back to the show Mr. Robert Costa, who's on the line with us right now. What's going on? Robert, Good evening. How are you, buddy? How's everything?
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Robert Costa
Great to be with you. Stephen A. Thank you.
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Stephen A. Smith
Always appreciated. Texas race, Texas Senate race. Beleaguered Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent John Cornyn after Trump endorsed Paxton corners the first Republican in the state's history to run for the party's nomination and lose. What does Cornyn's defeat reveal about Trump's grip on the party in your estimation?
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Robert Costa
Well, it shows he still has the grip on the party. I mean, it's hard to put into context how influential John Cornyn has been. He may not be famous famous for most people following politics, but this was the number two in the Senate GOP for years. He was Mitch McConnell's deputy, had a lot of power, ran the NRSC, the campaign arm for the Senate GOP, for years. So for him to go down inside the gop, inside the highest ranks of the party, this is like a pillar falling down. This is not just some random senator. This is a former member of the leadership, someone who was trusted, but he just got on the bad side of the Trump administration, especially the president himself, for how he's handled different issues over the years. And President Trump does not mind gambling a little bit politically. When you talk to him and his aides about the midterms, they rather have people in Trump's image running for office than somebody who's seen as more establishment by them.
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Stephen A. Smith
I'm wondering, though, this is a person that voted with Trump 99% of the time. So when, when Trump has an attitude about somebody, it's based on something less than 1% of the time. What could that possibly be as it pertains to John Cornyn?
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Robert Costa
It's not an issue. It's a number. 2020. It's how you handle the 2020 election. If you shared his grievances about 2020, you're seen as more MAGA by some people inside the White House, by some of his Trump voters. If you were more muted about the 2020 election, if you said it was in a legitimate election that President Biden won and that you don't agree with President Trump's false assertions about the election, then you are always going to be vulnerable, potentially in a primary to those who echo President Trump's own view.
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Stephen A. Smith
Robert Costa, CBS News, right here with Stephen. A straight shooter with Stephen. A Trump's revenge tour. That's what I call it because it's clearly obvious. I mean, boo, boo. The fool can see that. But his revenge tour targets lawmakers he considers insufficiently loyal who are up for reelection in 2028. They include Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky's Rand Paul, Indiana's Todd Young, Colorado's Lauren Barbert, and possibly even Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Who would you classify as being in the most danger in terms of being targeted by Trump? Of those names that I mentioned, I
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Robert Costa
would take Murkowski off that list. Murkowski. She's dealt with Trump's wrath before and she's survived. She's been able to run as an independent who caucuses as a Republican from Alaska. So she's carved out her own independent profile. If you follow her public comments, Senator Murkowski doesn't seem too worried. Senator Young, he might be in the toughest position of all of them because Indiana has become a ruby red state, very Trump aligned when it comes to its politics. And Senator Rand Paul, he's a little bit more like Murzkowski. He's not the same as her politically. He's more libertarian, as we all know. But I sat down with Senator Paul the other day for a long interview, long feature for CBS. And look, he might run for president in 2028 against Vice President Vance or Secretary Rubio, depending on who runs. Paul ran for president himself in 2016. People sometimes forget his father, Ron Paul, I know you remember, ran in 2008 and 2012. So he's got a national following, so he's probably not as vulnerable. Todd Young, though, is more of a traditional conservative and he could be facing a primary challenge if he doesn't really get a little bit cozier with the president.
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Stephen A. Smith
I genuinely like Rand Paul, but I don't give him a snowball's chance in hell of winning a presidential general election, do you?
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Robert Costa
At this point, it's hard to see the party coming around that libertarian agenda after it's embraced Trumpism for over a decade. But you know, things are think about this time in 2016 cycle, Stephen, in 2016 cycle, we were in the 2014 period right now, Jeb Bush was the front runner. Bernie Sanders was the outsider of outsiders. So you never know how things are going to turn. Rand Paul's whole calculus is, look, maybe the Iran war becomes a sour point for Republican voters. Maybe they start to look at somebody like him who's been a skeptic about how Iran's been handled by the president. Maybe that gives them an open. It's probably a narrow if very slim opening. But that's what he looked. That's what he's looking at.
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Stephen A. Smith
We're talking to Robert Costa right here with Stephen A straight shooter with Stephen A. I'm thinking about this as well. I mean, you don't have to run against Trump per se because he's unless he circumvents the 22nd Amendment and runs for a third term, which, by the way, we can't rule out with him. We just can't rule it out with him that he'll try anyway. But the chances of that happening are slim to none. It's one thing when he's for him to be the candidate, but for him not to be the candidate, what we've seen in these runoffs and things of that nature, is it an indication of a power that he has because we're talking about this time of year as the midterms approach, or is it a power that's really, really something to take into consideration for a general presidential election?
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Robert Costa
Stephen, I think you're bringing up a really important point that doesn't get talked about enough. He is not on the ballot in 2028. And so all these people who struggled to run against him in 2016, they struggled to run it against him in 2024. Yeah, they may have to talk about Trumpism and Trump's policies, but running against Vice President Vance or Secretary Rubio is a real different thing than running against President Trump with his movement behind him, his huge coalition, his media savvy. So you do wonder, when I talk to many Republican donors, top Republican officials, could someone like Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia get in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, could a new group get in knowing that they don't have to run against him this time around?
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Stephen A. Smith
And what is the answer to that question, Robert?
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Robert Costa
I think, I think it's, look, I was just talking with a couple people today with Chris Christie, who ran for president in 2016 and 2024. Trump friend, now Trump critic. He said he thinks it might be an open field. And so did John Bolton, who's Trump's former national security advisor. I spoke to him today as well. I said, how do you see this, John? How do you see the possibility that a traditional Reagan type Republican, a non Trump Republican, could come back? He goes, look, Costa, he says, if the midterms go south of the Republicans, if they lose the House, especially if they lose the Senate, in his view, you got an open field because Trumpism as a political project, as an idea, it could be questioned by some inside the Republican Party. And that could allow somebody to come in and say, hey, here's a different argument. I'm not trying to be critical of President Trump, not trying to fight with President Trump. But you brought up an interesting point about the 22nd Amendment. When people go to visit the Oval Office to this day, Stephen, there's a little closet between the Oval Office and the dining room where the president likes to work, watch television. You know what's in that little closet office. Trump 2028 hats. Trump 2028. Now, some people see these hats, they think it's tongue in cheek. He's playing a little bit of a. Having a little bit of fun, tossing them at visitors. But it sends a message that he's not going anywhere in the sense that he's still running the party. He's the boss.
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Stephen A. Smith
Let me transition to the Democrats. I don't know whether you heard my opening monologue about, but I told. I was basically saying this is an opportunity for you to capitalize off of because. Because you've got some Republicans that are real salty about Cornyn being ousted the way that he was with Trump, turning on him, despite the fact that he supported Trump 99% of the time. So they're looking at it and they're saying, wait a minute now. Even saw an article written by Karl Rove, longtime Republican strategist in the Wall Street Journal where he was talking about, some of them are salty about it and they're not keen to help Trump with the ballroom. That's about 220 million. Or they're not keen to help him with the slush one, the anti weaponization thing. That's $1.8 trillion. Ain't. I'm sorry, eight, $1.8 billion. They're looking at it from the standpoint that this could ultimately hurt him. But my attitude is it can't hurt you if the Democrats don't have a viable candidate and a viable strategy to exploit the mistakes that he appears to be making. What do you say to that? Do you see anything that's positive to talk about when we're looking at the Democrats, the opposition?
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Robert Costa
Well, I mean, when you talk about these Republicans being salty, Stephen, it's like they've been salty now. I mean, they've been part of this political marriage for over a decade. So many of them have bought in. There've been a lot of exit ramps along the way. So getting salty 10 years into the transformation of the Republican Party, I don't know what it gets you. I mean, they had so many opportunities to rebuke President Trump over the years, and he's, he is who he is. You take him on, he's going to try to beat you in a primary. Doesn't matter how many times you try to kiss the ring, how many things you do to, to ingratiate with him. He has a long memory, and if you have wronged him in any way politically, he's going to remember it. And if he sees an opportunity to get behind someone he sees as more maga, he's going to do it. As for the Democrats, you know, one of the wisest Democrats in the party is 85 years old. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina Yep. He I don't believe there's a Biden presidency. President Biden would say the same unless Jim Clyburn gives him that endorsement in 2020 in South Carolina. He gets the black vote in South Carolina and he was able to be the president because of that coalition getting behind him. Who does Jim Clyburn have coming to South Carolina this Friday? Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky. Now, that's interesting person to watch because he's not in the spotlight, not really a splashy guy, but a young Democratic governor from the South. You think about when have the Democrats come back in American political history? Think about Watergate, the Democrats trying to really make an inroad again. For the first time Since Johnson in 64, they go to an outsider. Jimmy Carter comes out of nowhere in 1976 to win the presidency after 12 years of Republicans, Reagan, Reagan, Bush in 1992, who do they go to? The outsider from the South, Bill Clinton, the unknown governor from Arkansas. So they have a history of looking to the South. And so you look at the south now. You see Jon Ossoff running for reelection, young guy from Georgia, U.S. senator. You see Andy Beshear, young guy, governor of Kentucky. So you see two people in the south who've been able, in a tough political climate, to build political careers in the South. And for the Democrats, that's really the ball game in a lot of ways because they need to win back working voters in the Midwest. They need to win back the south if they're going to really compete in the Electoral College. But beyond all that, I just have to say when I talk to donors, when I talk to strategists, I know he gets tagged as the California slick haired, smooth Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom. Most people, when they see him up close, they see political talent inside the Democratic Party. And I've seen him, he's 58 years old, 59 years old. He's different. Different than the Gavin Newsom a lot of people imagine when he was mayor of San Francisco doing same sex marriages. That's kind of the conceptualization of Gavin Newsom. And much of the political imagination, they think about California progressive politics. But I've seen Gavin Newsom up close in early primary states. This is a seasoned politician. This is a guy who's Clintonian in his engagement style. So you can't take your eyes off him as a political analyst because he might not be the nominee, but he's very much in position to. To make a real run.
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Stephen A. Smith
Well, let me respond to both points that you made, and let me get your response to that once I retort. Number one, when you talk about candidates in the south, the Bashirs of the world, the Ossoffs of the world, I would say to you there was no Donald Trump to contend with, whether as the, as the candidate, you know, or, you know, pursuing incumbency or whatever, or. Even though that wasn't the case, even though that's not going to be the case in 2028 in all likelihood, the bottom line is it's that he clearly wields some level of influence. So going to old strategy to me is bad news for the Democrats, because as far as I'm concerned, they have it. You know, they still holding on to the times of old, and that ain't gonna work. You gonna need something different to offset what Donald Trump is trying to build. Because I think what he ultimately wants is not another four years in the White House. I think this guy wants to be behind the scenes wielding the power. He wants to be able to get in front of the camera when he wants. He wants to be able to go where to do whatever he wants to do when he wants, while in the same breath wielding power, having puppets on a string, per se, on Capitol Hill to do his bidding at his discretion without having to actually do the work. That's number one. Number two with Gavin Newsom. Here's what I would tell you. I've spoken to him. I've met him. He still hasn't been on this show. You know, I don't. I don't. I'm telling you, he's running for the president. He doesn't need to be running for me. But the point is, is that he definitely looks the part. He looks the part. He's smart as a whip. There's no doubt about it. He's incredibly politically savvy in certain respects. But I think ultimately the state of California gets held against him in terms of affordability issues, crimes, homelessness, etc. Right. Not only that, the whole transgender issue. They've got him on the record. He's talking to folks and, you know, you know, in supporting, you know, you know, sex, you know, sex changes and stuff like that, without parental consent. Robert, that's kind of stuff's got to come back to haunt you for a general election. People in the south and other parts of this country ain't going for that.
- [36:51]
Robert Costa
Well, I look at the Biden campaign from 2020 as kind of a way that you can balance all of those different ideas. I mean, even though he was older in age and wasn't as maybe politically smooth as everybody he was running against Biden was able in 2020. People forget this. Why did he win? It wasn't just because he was vice president for Barack Obama and working with President Obama, but he was able to get labor, older voters and white voters, older black voters and others to kind of couple together with a coalition of younger progressives who on those issues you talk about, have a very kind of defined position and want to see progressive values articulated. But he didn't lean too far in either direction. He kept a balance. So he didn't seem like he was the candidate of either wing, but he was a candidate of the whole party. And so for the Democrats, it's gonna be a challenge. Even if you're Rahm Emanuel and you're running right now informally, not formally as a centrist and talking about Democratic future in the way you just spelled out a little bit, he's more in your realm, shall we say, and how he thinks about the Democratic Party or even Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania. They're more of the. Stephen A. Perspective in trying to pivot the Democratic Party. Tonally focused. Yeah. And it's not even center. It's more of a different emphasis on different values, different emphasis on different issues. It's not necessarily centrist. It's like what you lead with politically. It's not like they're going to take a different position on a lot of these social and cultural issues. They're just not going to lead with them. They'd rather. And Bernie Sanders, he's not talked about enough. He has the same positions on all these cultural and social issues as all the other progressives. But what does he lead with? Class economics. So it's all about what are you known for and how do you put the emphasis on that? And that's how you're usually defined.
- [38:42]
Stephen A. Smith
Robert Kosta, CBS News, right here with Stephen A. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. If the Democrats had to choose one problem to solve first. ROBERT their message, their messengers or their policies, which one is hurting them most right now?
- [38:57]
Robert Costa
What I detect in my reporting, I go around the country all the time, is they need and I'm not here to give them advice or strategic analysis, but as an observer, the Democrats, when I was growing up, I'm 40 years old, they were the working person's party. You had a lunch pail, you had a union card. You were working a tougher job. You in many parts of this country traditionally would be a Democrat. President Trump comes in in 2015, 2016 and says, on immigration and culture and all these issues, I'm really your candidate. The Democrats are the candidate of the elite. They're the candidate of the global financial class. They're the candidate of corporations. And that Trump approach has not fully been addressed by the democratic party for 10 years. How do you win back the working voter? Now, President Biden arguably was able to win the presidency because he made inroads with the working voter, going back to his history of the 1970s and 80s with those voters. But if you're a Democrat looking to run in 2028, you know the progressives are not going to go with the Trump style candidate or the Republican. But what about that working voter? Do they still feel welcome in the Democratic Party? How do you make them feel welcome? And how do you make them feel like you're listening to their economic concerns? And AI may be one of those issues. I'm really watching. Could the Democrats, the Republicans in some quarters are getting pretty cozy with Silicon Valley. Could the Democrats capitalize on that and say we're more skeptical of Silicon Valley and AI? And that may be an opening.
- [40:31]
Stephen A. Smith
They better listen to Ro Khanna, representative out of California. They better listen to him because he's closely connected to that stuff. He watches that stuff with a fine tooth combination. The Democratic Party, his own party, better listen to him when it comes to that. Let me go to Radha Zoram Hamdani, the mayor of New York City. Is he the future of the Democratic Party or the kind of nominee Republicans dream of running against, in your estimation?
- [40:54]
Robert Costa
You know, people forget beyond all his policies. I covered his campaign, every event I covered with Zohran Mamdani back in 2025. He was smiling, he was bringing the energy. There's political talent there. There's an approach there that's kind of winning. Even though he has a dire message on some things, in terms of painting the picture of the city economically and framing it in a pretty stark way, he had a very positive way of campaigning that won over a lot of people who felt grievance about their ability to live in New York City. And Democratic socialism is not a no, no word now in Democratic politics. I mean, 10, 15 years ago, if you said you were for Medicare for all, it was almost like you were putting a hammer and sickle in your window. That's not the case anymore. There's a real acceptance of Medicare for all, for early childhood education, for childcare for all. People feel like they can't make it work. They're in credit card debt. They can't inflationary feeling on taxes and on food spending and on housing. And so Democratic socialism used to be this thing that kind of had a patina around it that was alarming, but. But no longer is that really the case with a lot of working voters. So Zohra Mamdani, he gets slapped with us, always a Democrat. He's a socialist, but he really is a Democrat who's talking about universal coverage. And that seems to be, in particularly blue areas, a really winning way to win elections. Not maybe going to work in every part of the country where there's still an aversion to having too much of the state involved in your life.
- [42:20]
Stephen A. Smith
So what, what, what, what Democrat that's out there that you believe is speaking to the vast majority of American citizens throughout the country better than anybody else associated with their party, is that Gavin Newsom.
- [42:31]
Robert Costa
Gavin Newsom is bringing the combativeness that is really desired by many Democratic voters. Many Democratic voters I encounter, Steven, they feel lost in the Trump era. They can't believe he was able to win a second term. They feel like the party is not being nimble, encountering Trump or Elon Musk or Doge or all these different executive orders. They see Trump taking down the east wing of the White House and doing construction. They see the, the mall and they're overwhelmed by it. So when Gavin Newsom and others are out there fighting, they like the fighting spirit because it seems like at least something's happening. But in terms of really building a national movement, I mean, the only person who's drawn, and it's interesting, he's in his 80s and he's probably not going to run in 2028. The only person who's on 10, 20, 30,000 people is Bernie Sanders. And he is really even more combative than Newsom when it comes to his message. He's more pointed. And so I wonder, can somebody out there, maybe it's Newsom, maybe it's somebody we're not thinking about. Maybe it's a more independent style, maybe it's a celebrity, maybe it's someone from the business world. Can someone come in and have movement style politics in the Democratic Party and not be Bernie Sanders? Can anyone, is there anyone besides Bernie Sanders who can walk into an arena, a minor league hockey arena? We're talking 10,000 people. I'm not looking for 50, 10,000 people and have them in the palm of their hand. Is there a Democrat that can do that? I don't really see that person just yet beyond Bernie Sanders. And so the minute I start seeing a movement politician, because when you're an age of grievance, when you're an age of global disruption, people are looking to movement style politicians. Movement style politicians, you look at American history, they happen during periods of immense unrest. Think about Bobby Kennedy, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. The late Dr. Great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A movement politician, even though not an elected official in many ways. And I'm looking to see who has the talent to hold 10,000 people.
- [44:25]
Stephen A. Smith
I think that's. Honestly, Robert, I'm not gonna lie to you. I think it's depressing. And I'm gonna tell you why I think it's depressing. I don't think it's that damn hard with the ammunition that Trump gives you. If you're a Democrat, the ammunition is there to literally sit up there. If you're the Democrats and you focus on safety in the streets and you focus on affordability and all you've got to do is find somebody with the scissor to possess and the knowledge, you bless them with the knowledge, here it is on a silver platter. This is what you attack. You should be able to handle your business if you're a Democrat and you can't ask for an opponent to literally gift wrap ammunition to you the way Trump is done, regardless of how formidable he may be personally. The point is, the rhetoric is one thing, but the facts are another. And if you got the facts and you know how to present it, it shouldn't be that damn hard. The fact that it is for the Democratic Party, to me, Robert, I just think is an indictment against them because I think that they know who those kind of folks are and where they are. But you got too many people who want it for themselves as opposed to rallying together and saying, this is the person that we're going to get behind. I'll give you the last word, and
- [45:36]
Robert Costa
it's the last word I would. The one name we haven't discussed and she hasn't made a decision is former Vice President Kamala Harris.
- [45:42]
Stephen A. Smith
That ain't no that. Winner win. That's not a winning strategy, Robert. She don't stand a chance. I'm going to say it. I'm going to say it. I don't think she stands a chance,
- [45:50]
Robert Costa
but I think you'd have to at least acknowledge that if she gets in, she's a big name and it's going to take a real talent to elbow her out if you. That's the belief she you know, I
- [46:03]
Stephen A. Smith
think her up against, against one of one of the Republican candidates, that's one thing, because the liberals going to come out and support and, you know, folks that are independent as well. I'm talking about how winning the Democratic nominee when you couldn't get to Iowa in 2020, when you circumvented a primary to become the Democratic nominee in 2024, four, I think there's going to be too many obstacles that they're able to point to.
- [46:24]
Robert Costa
You might be right.
- [46:25]
Stephen A. Smith
That's not gonna work.
- [46:25]
Robert Costa
You might be right, Stephen. But look, as a student of history, my role always is assume nothing. Assume nothing. Reagan loses in 76. He the losing in 76 helps him win in 80. I'm not saying she's going to be the nominee. I'm just saying she has to be taken as seriously as any of these other contenders because we don't know how it's going to play out.
- [46:46]
Stephen A. Smith
All right, maybe I'll take it seriously. All right. I got it. Robert Costa, CBS News CBS national correspondent, right here with Stephen H. Trace you to Stephen A. Appreciate your time as always, buddy. Thank you so much, man. Welcome back anytime.
- [46:58]
Robert Costa
Thank you.
- [46:59]
Stephen A. Smith
One and only Robert Costa. Right here, Stephen A, chief Washington analyst for CBS News and national correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning. He's one of the best in the business. Love having him on the show. Appreciate the education. I'll get into all of what he said. I'll get to the phone calls for the entire hour. Number two. And of course, I'm going to touch on something else. Buckle your seatbelts just a little bit. Comedian Kevin Hart had a roast and brought my name up in a way that, dare I say, was not very flattering. He had his say. I'll have mine. And it's of the political variety, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not going off script here. It's politics. Political show. Folks want my attention. Sometimes you get it more than what you asked for. I'll be back with that and more in a minute. You're listening live Straight shooting with Stephen A. Don't go away. I'm Kiana. And I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop I'm addicted. Start your free trial@shopify.com booking a Verbo
- [48:39]
Robert Costa
vacation rental means you get verbo Care and 24. 7 Life Support. Verified reviews from real guests and top rated homes with the love by guest filter.
- [48:46]
Stephen A. Smith
I just booked my VRBO because there was a sweet wine fridge.
- [48:48]
Robert Costa
We all have our reasons. If you know you, Vrbo terms apply. See vrbo.com trust for details.
- [49:00]
Stephen A. Smith
I heard what Robert Costa had to say. Ladies and gentlemen, let me be very, very clear. I'm not rooting against Kamala Harris. I'm just not convinced that she's the right candidate for the job. You know, there comes a point in time in life where you've had your chance. 2020 was one thing, but how you became the candidate in 2024 matters to me. Because when it was clear that Biden was done and that we needed a new president and we needed a new Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States of America, ladies and gentlemen, that was before June 27th of 2024, when he was on a debate stage against Donald Trump. That was before that. We saw the. We saw all the evidence way before then, and folks wanted to act like we, you know, we. We would. Our eyes were lying to us. And you wait and waited and delayed and delayed, and then suddenly June 27th comes, and it's a nightmare on that debate stage against Donald Trump. I don't know what he said. I don't think he knows what he said. Remember that? And then three weeks later, three and a half weeks later, Kamala Harris becomes a Democratic nominee. Why? Because didn't need to be a primary and see people remember that. Because that means her own party didn't believe in her. Because if you believed in her, you'd have pushed him out earlier, you'd have got him behind her, and she would have went through the primary and earned a Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States of America. But because that didn't happen and y' all went that route and she still lost. Can't see it. Can't see it. And then she came out with the book, too, going over by Josh Shapiro. Gavin Newsom. Can't see it. Can't see it. Sorry. Michelle Obama, all day, every day. I think she'd win, but not Kamala Harris. I just don't. Sorry. Our number two up next. I'm gonna get to your phone calls, definitely. So lines are open. I also gotta touch on Mr. Kevin Hart bringing up my name of the roast in a fashion that quite honestly was surprising to me coming from him. He had his say. I'll have mine at the start of our number two. Up next, you didn't start a business just to keep the lights on. You're here to sell more today than yesterday. You're here to win. Lucky for you, Shopify built the best converting checkout on the planet like the just one tapping ridiculously fast acting sky
- [51:41]
Robert Costa
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- [51:44]
Stephen A. Smith
That's the good stuff right there. So if your business is in it
- [51:48]
Robert Costa
to win it, win with Shopify.
- [51:50]
Stephen A. Smith
Start your free trial today@shopify.com win booking
- [51:55]
Robert Costa
a VRBO vacation rental means you get Verbo Care and 24. 7 Life Support, Verified Reviews from real guests and top rated homes with the love by guest filter.
- [52:02]
Stephen A. Smith
I just booked my VRBO because there was a sweet wine fridge.
- [52:05]
Robert Costa
We all have our reasons. If you know you're vrbo terms apply. Cvrbo.com trust for details.
- [52:10]
Stephen A. Smith
Straight shooter with Stephen A. Welcome tower number two, a straight shooter with yours truly, stephen a. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm eastern standard time over the airwaves of siriusxm potus radio channel 124. Number to call up as always is 86696 potus. That's 8669-6768-8786-6967-688-7866 96 potus. What I'm about to touch on, I would like people to understand. Scott Greenstein, president content for SiriusXM. Dave Zorab, who runs this channel, can't say enough how thankful I am for having him in my life because he, he's an incredible supporter and guides me in a lot of different ways and I'm incredibly appreciative of him. Jennifer McClellan, wonderful producer, she's the best. But I want everybody to know they have nothing to do with what's about to come out of my mouth is my show and I have some things to say and I don't want anybody held accountable but me. This is me talking. Because you see something happened the other day a little over a week ago or so. Ladies and gentlemen, I swear to you on everything I love, I had absolutely no knowledge, no idea about this until this afternoon. But when I learned about it, I'm not gonna front. It stung like hell. And that was Kevin Hart's roast that he had. The Roast of Kevin Hart special on Netflix. Kevin Hart made a pointed joke about his personal Mount Rushmore of racism, A list of people he claims hate black people. Alongside Jane Shane Gillis, Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Hart included my name. Stephen A. Smith, quote my Mount Rushmore of racism when it comes to hating black people is Shane Gillis. Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Stephen A. Smith. Those are my four people when it comes to hating black people. The joke came during a roast segment where Hart was targeting Shane Gillis, the event's host, and then expanded to a broader critique of several public figures. Obviously, everybody knows me to be a sports commentator known for my outspoken opinions, and I'm considered an individual that's been the subject of controversies over the years. Okay. You know, I tried to. First of all, I got. At least I thought I had pretty damn good relationship with Kevin Hart. He's been on my show on many occasions. I've known him for years. I don't know. I mean, it's a roast, but, you know, he's getting crucified because a lot of people felt like too many jokes at this particular roast was tasteless. My attitude is a roast is a roast and people are there to be attacked. He's gotten attacked, all of that other stuff. But I'm not going to front and failing to acknowledge that this year has been very, very difficult for me from the standpoint that even though I've been very, very blessed and fortunate to secure my future in ways that I never thought imaginable, first at ESPN and then here, SiriusXM. The flip side to that is that I've taken a lot of heat because of perceived positions that I may have had. And as a result, you've had some people from the Democratic Party who don't know that I'm aware of the steps and the links that they've been willing to go through to silence me, even though I'm somebody that has religiously voted Democrat and I support most Democratic views. And when I saw that Kevin Hart said this, You know, it was like one of those where if it rains, it pours kind of thing and that kind of stuff. Anybody expected me to go after Kevin Hart, you. You got the wrong man. I've always had a lot of love for him. I will continue to have a lot of love for him. I think he's a good man and a great comedian who's highly successful and a good dude. And I'm just. I was just taken aback by it because obviously it's the kind of narrative that a few have tried to give the impression that the many feel about me. But after licking your wounds and dealing with what you've. The shrapnel of criticism, rather that it's coming my direction. I've got something to say to all of those folks out there who do think like that about me. Keep it coming. Keep it coming. All it is doing is intensifying my fervor. All it is doing is making me want to come at folks, but not as individuals with their feelings and their emotions and their slight insulting remarks or whatever. It's damn near making me want to run just so I could be on a debate stage and smoke some people's asses. Like, I'm scared. Like you scaring me. No, it's intensifying me. It's motivating me. This is what I live for because I know it's bullshit what folks are doing. You see, when you talk about black folks and hate me or whatever, whatever, you know, somebody else go get invited to the barbecue, you, you don't know. I can afford my own barbecue and my own party and do what do I need that for? But more importantly, it's an engagement in pseudo disownership. Like you get to eradicate or remove me from my community. When in fact, I can go at any of these people and ask them rhetorically or literally, what the hell are you doing for our community? Who are you associating with? Who are you hanging out with? I walk the streets of America every day, and to be quite honest with you, I get black love everywhere. It ain't just because I'm a black man. It's because I'm a brother. Ain't no selling out this way. I'm looking out. But people's definition of looking out is where the challenge comes in. Because you see what's going on right now. Just like we started off talking about Trump. You would think that I'm complimentary of Trump. I'm sit. I'm sitting there sprinkling him with flowers. I ain't talking about the war in Iran. I ain't talking about what happened in Gaza. I ain't talking about a slush fund. I ain't talking about him padding his wallets for himself, his family, his cronies. I ain't talking about the insurrection. I ain't talk about the vile photos that, that, that, that, you know, or whatever picture that he depicting the Obamas as monkeys. I didn't talk about the countless, insidious, disgusting, asinine, immature, belligerent ass things this man has done as President of the United States. And even before when he was running, I didn't do that. I talked about all of these things. Matter of fact, you go to the archives. A straight shooter. You'll see me talking about it more than most. But I remember what I had this staunch liberal say to me in Vegas a few weeks ago. And he said to me, yo,
- [61:33]
Callers / Audience Members
I
- [61:34]
Stephen A. Smith
don't care if it's true or not. You can't say nothing agreeable or positive about that side. We at war. You gotta keep that low key. And I said, I will never do that. I'm always going to be fair. Because it's not that person that I'm thinking about. It's the millions upon millions upon millions of people who may have voted for him or who voted against him, who all listen to what I have to say. I'm not going to shred my credibility for partisanship and favoritism. That's me. And because that is the person that I have been all my life,
- [62:16]
Callers / Audience Members
people
- [62:16]
Stephen A. Smith
want to act like black folks hate me. To the black folks that hate me, the few of you that do, not many, not most. I would ask. I would ask that you respectfully reconsider by simply looking at the facts. Because the people that's got something to say about other folks, blackness, what the hell have they done for the community? Community. When you see them hanging out, it ain't about your crew of people that work for you or that you with all the time. I'm talking about just chilling with your own. Did they walk the streets of America like I do? You see, what's really, really going on here is a bigger issue. You know what that issue is? When it comes to accusations of not being down for my own, that don't come from the conservatives, that don't come from the Republican Party, that's coming from the left. Because I have the temerity and the unmitigated gall to stand up and say, why don't you earn my damn vote? Instead of feeling like you entitled to. To it. I understand that the other side might not be worth a damn when it comes to black. The, the black community because they don't put forth policies that necessarily cater to us and, and, and puts us in an advantageous position. I get that part. Got it. Understand it. And that's a consideration that I have to take into consideration when I go to the polls. Fair enough. But in the meantime, before we get to those polls, what you offering? What you doing for us? What do I consistently talk about when it comes to black folks in the Democratic Party? I say, flatter me, if I go buy a house, don't I walk through it and check out everything before I purchase it? If I go buy a car, don't I test drive it? If I go buy some clothes, don't I put it on and fit it and see how it falls on me first? Don't I do all of that? Why do I have to sit up there and just say, you're a Democrat, I'm black, so that automatically means you get my vote. If I do that, why do you have to work for it? If I do that, why does the other party even consider working for it? By doing what you want me to do, doesn't that automatically disenfranchise us as a people? Why is it that the same damn complaints that we had in the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, in a new millennium, we. We still have them now? Why is the priority that's given to the lat. To the Latino community is something black folks crave in the year 2026? Why I asked this question? I ask these questions, bring people on and discuss it, to have a salient and decent and respectful conversation with one another. And I'm hated, Really. Kevin Hart may have been telling a joke. It may have been the latest tasteless one that he told. I have no issue with the joke if it was a joke, if it wasn't a joke. If it wasn't a joke, I still wouldn't have an issue with it. I have an issue with the fact that it came from him. Somebody that I kind of know a little bit, that got a lot of love and respect for. And at a time in my life, knowing I've spent my life fighting on behalf of my community, that people try to continue this narrative about me that I know is false, but that nevertheless still hurts to hear out of the mouth of anyone who knows me. I could respond more vitriolically, but I won't. More incendiary, but I won't. Because Kevin Hart has never once in his lifetime did anything to me that deserves that. And he's too good of a brother and too good of a human being for me to even consider doing something like that. But it stung. Didn't sting quite as much as a few people who I thought were my friends and loved ones that turned their back. And why do I bring up the Democratic Party? Because I know of people who were
- [67:46]
Callers / Audience Members
called
- [67:48]
Stephen A. Smith
by folks in positions of power associated with the Democratic Party for the sole express purpose of silencing me. You're going to have to do better than that, because all you've done is intensify me and motivate me. That's what happens when I get pissed off. I don't get weaker. I get stronger. I don't get demure and bow beneath that pressure. I get more energized. You know what I'm thinking about doing if I don't decide if. Because I love my sports job. I just love it. ESPN, SiriusXM. You ain't got to worry about me, man. I love doing my sports. That's a lot to give up. But don't y' all let me find a way to get on that debate stage without having to give up these jobs. Don't you let it happen. I promise you. I promise you on everything I love in this world. You will never see anything on a debate stage with what you would see that night, that I'm a candidate and I'm up on that stage against those politicians who do sleazy shit like this, fomenting and provoking, this kind of stuff to come my way. You have no idea who you're dealing with. I'm not going to get weaker. I'm not going to fold. I'm not going to bend. All I will do is intensify. You have no idea how much you have motivated me. You have no idea what I spent the last year working on just to get myself ready for y'.
- [69:44]
Callers / Audience Members
All.
- [69:45]
Stephen A. Smith
You have no idea. Because of BS like this, any other community, somebody has a point of view, they feel a little differently. You go on with your life, black person, speak up. Your own people hate you. You sell out your coon. You betrayed your race. Cause I'm asking questions on behalf of a community that I love and care about. And I'm a fabric of and a part of, because I'm daring the challenge. What you say you've been offering to us, Forget the other side. We know talking about. You. Keep coming at me. You know what I'm gonna do if I'm not on that debate stage? I might moderate one of those debates. I might go to Sirius XM and say, I need to talk to you. I might want to do a show five days a week instead of one. I got the energy. Y' all keep messing with me. Midterms are coming up. 2028 election coming up. Keep messing with me. I live for this stuff. All I'm doing is asking questions
- [71:31]
Callers / Audience Members
and
- [71:31]
Stephen A. Smith
trying to gather a level of understanding in the interest of fairness about where everybody's coming from. So my community and the American community to make the right decisions. I don't believe I deserve this kind of vitriol. And Kevin Hart's roast joke, whatever it was Was just the latest salvo shot in my direction. Incited, in my opinion, by a party that wants you to cowtow and march to their every whim. I'm not built like that. Keep messing with me. Keep messing with me. Me. Back with your calls and more in a min. Straight Shooter, Stephen A. In the house. I like being here. Take it back. I love it. And I'mma love it even more in the weeks and the months and the years to come. Keep messing with me. Fast hour number two back here with straight shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you as I love to do every weekday. I'm sorry, every Wednesday from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time. Oh, my goodness. Lots of stuff on my mind. No doubt about it. It was necessary to say, and I stand by what I said. Getting sick of it, you know. And let's be very, very clear about something before I get to the callers, to my community, the black community. I'm not talking about us. I'm talking about the few who act like they represent us. I know that I get pretty much nothing but love, and I love us back. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about the few that act like they represent us as a whole. They don't. I can't. And no matter where I go, even black folks who disagree with me show me love. And I appreciate it. I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for my community. And I would never repay us by abandoning us, ever. But sometimes it ain't about telling you what you want to hear. It's about telling you what you need to hear so we can all do better together. Just remember that. 86696 POTUS is the number to call up. Let's go to the phones. James in Ohio, you're live with Stephen A. Straight shooter.
- [74:31]
Callers / Audience Members
Hey, Stephen A man, we agree on a lot of topics. Yes, but I have two topics I don't think we're going to agree on right now. Sure, I want to talk about it. People of color and white privilege. You had James Carville on the show about a month ago.
- [74:48]
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, sir.
- [74:49]
Callers / Audience Members
And he said. He said something, but you didn't react. You didn't really react to Covid. He said that white privilege. I'm sorry, People of color is a divisive term and you didn't react to it. Okay. Okay.
- [75:05]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, that's not a disagreement, sir. What happens is just so you know, sometimes, right, you have somebody on the air and this is a problem. You need to know this. In fairness, to you. I'm not going to cut you off. I just want to explain this to you. You know, people that interview folks, you know, they need to explain this to listeners and folks like that, sometimes you have a reporter or an interviewer that's caught up in what they want, that they're not thinking about the listener or the viewer. And so what happens is we have a guest on and they have, let's say, for example, 20 minutes and like 11 or 12 minutes in, they may say something that you don't necessarily agree with, but you've already determined that they're long winded, that if you touch on this subject, it might take up the rest of your interview when you, you got about five other questions to get to and you got this minimal amount of time. You make those judicious system decisions all the time. You can't always, you got to pick and choose your battles. What's really most important to get to, what's more important to move on from that kind of thing. And a lot more times than not, like when you have just a freestyle and you got all the time in the world, sure, you could do that. But a lot of times, some things you can't challenge because you just don't have the time.
- [76:20]
Callers / Audience Members
My thing is we got to come to terms with those two terms because to me, that was one of the reasons why Trump got a lot of votes. I know that because I talked to a lot of people in the middle and people feel isolated and so folks might not want to hear, hear this, you know, I'm a brother, whatever you say. But you know, this not probably go cross great in the barbershop. But those two times, man, which two
- [76:44]
Stephen A. Smith
people, which two people of color and what's the other one?
- [76:50]
Callers / Audience Members
A person that's independent think he might say, what does it mean people of color? He's like, it's almost like we're saying people of color and everybody else.
- [77:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay, all right, what's your other point? Real quick? Go ahead. Because I got other callers to get to. Go ahead.
- [77:05]
Callers / Audience Members
And the other one is about white privilege. Okay, so there's a lot of, there's, there's, there's a lot of poor whites. When you bring that term up, you say white privilege, how you think they're feel, how you think they're going to vote when, when Trump is.
- [77:18]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, what, you know. No, no, no, that's not, but that's a bad one because what you're talking about is the power structure. That's what you're talking about. You're not talking about anybody who's white. You're talking about who's running things. The influencers, the decision makers. That's what you're talking about. Because the wide power structure is real. It's not imagined. It does exist. Now you have some folks that are willing to sacrifice their own. Clearly we see that in the United States of America because we have an abundance of white folks that are not concerned about a lot of issues that pertain to other communities because they got their own problems. And we understand that. But the bottom line is there's still a white power structure that exists in this country. That is a very, very real statement, and I'm not backing up from that.
- [77:57]
Callers / Audience Members
Okay, that's fine. That's fine. Okay. So one other thing I gotta say. Don't be concerned about that Kevin Hart stuff, man. If you. I mean you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean you. You straight, you come straight down the middle and you're gonna get criticized. So you just going to have thick skin, man.
- [78:14]
Stephen A. Smith
All right, Steven, thank you so much, man. Thank you for calling. I really appreciate it. Sir, what is it say Seiko. Is that your name? And. Yes, sir, Texas. How are you? How you doing? Welcome to the show.
- [78:26]
Callers / Audience Members
Thank you. Thank you, Steve, for having me on. I really do appreciate you, man. I've been listening to your, your show and also watching him and follow me a career for, for quite some time. And, and, and I just wanted to say, first and foremost, I'm a Christian pastor and I have my own podcast and things of that nature that address issues like you, like you have stated, but from a biblical perspective, which, which prompted me to reach out to you and to ask you some questions because one of the things that you had stated at the beginning of your. Of your show was that you were actually not the beginning, but near, near the middle part of your show. Before your, your break, you had mentioned that you are devoted to the, to the Democrat part. Are you. You basically vote Democrat, although you are independent. And I believe that there. That's a concern that I have regarding your position. And I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind, because I know you talk about church sometimes as well, too. Are you a Christian, sir?
- [79:18]
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, I am.
- [79:19]
Callers / Audience Members
Okay. And so if that's being the case, then this is another concern that I have because I'm trying to understand the difference of you being an independent voter. I believe you're an independent thinker, but I believe you may think that you're an independent voter, but you vote Democrats. I would probably say Respectfully, that you're not really an independent voter if you're. If you're mainly voting Democrat based on what you had said. And so I just want to ask you, biblically, what if you look at both parties, right, Their positions and their party platforms, which party leans or represents a biblical worldview?
- [79:53]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, let me say this to you. Let me stop you right there. That's not a fair question. I'm gonna tell you why it's not a fair question. Because if you consider neither party to fall under that ilk and you believe you're picking what you deem to be the lesser of two evils, that could be one of the reasons why you do that. Secondly, most people vote about issues pertaining to one issue. You have some people who are pro choice. You have some people who are about pro immigration, you know, making sure that our borders are secure, stuff like that. You have some people who focus more on national security. You have some people who are fixated on healthcare. You have others that are fixated on the economy and stuff like that. And so there's an. There's an inordinate amount of issues that are out there. But really, as voters, we focus on the one thing that matters to us most. Me. I'm about the economy. And so when I think about my mentality is that the more folks have, the more they have to lose. And as a result of having a lot to lose, you conduct yourself from a societal perspective a little bit better, if not a lot better, because you have something to lose as opposed to nothing to lose at all. Now, that's me. I've known people that have voted because they're pro choice. I know other people who are fixated on the border. I know other people. I've known friends of mine who sat up there and said, I'm willing to give up 75% of my salary if everybody in America could have health care. And that determines how they're going to vote. So I don't think that's a fair question, in all honesty.
- [81:20]
Callers / Audience Members
And I respectfully. I respect your position, but I would respectfully disagree and push back on that, because I'm not talking about. I'm not talking about personalities. I'm talking about policy. Right. I believe as a Christian, so I believe as Christians. If you're professing Christian, and I am, then should not the word of God be the standard by which we are to make our decisions, even in the voting booth? Would you agree with that position?
- [81:44]
Stephen A. Smith
No, not always. Because you got to take into account where we are as A society where we're aiming to go and what it's going to take to minimize the chaos, for example, when Trump was in office in 2020, not to throw shade on him or anything like that. Right? Here's the reality of the situation. You had an abundance of people who were a Republican that voted against him because the chaos that existed in the country was too much to take. So because of that, they went against that. That to vote against him, because even though they may have agreed from a policy perspective with some of the positions that he took, it was too much for them to deal with as citizens in this country, because the streets were devoid of peace, there were riots, there was racial tension. There was all of this other stuff going on, not to mention Covid or, you know, the residue of COVID So all of those things played a role in them going up against the fabric of what they normally feel when they went to the voting booth. People make those decisions all the time, sir. That is a fact. So it's not as. It's not as cut and dry as you're trying to say it. I don't have time to have this discussion with you. I'll let you speak again, but I don't have time to get into this lengthy discussion because I got other callers to get to. But this is not a discussion that I would run from one bit, just to be clear. But go ahead.
- [82:56]
Callers / Audience Members
I appreciate that. So if you don't mind, if. Is there a way for me to reach out to you? Maybe we can have a conversation or maybe. I'm not sure if I could invite you on my podcast to.
- [83:04]
Stephen A. Smith
I will, happily. I don't have a problem coming on your podcast.
- [83:08]
Callers / Audience Members
I would appreciate that. How do you make that happen?
- [83:12]
Stephen A. Smith
The producer will take your information, and my team will get in contact with you. I'm not running from that conversation. No, no.
- [83:17]
Callers / Audience Members
And I appreciate that, sir. Thank you very much, Stephen. I really appreciate your time.
- [83:19]
Stephen A. Smith
Take care. No problem. Let's go to Will in Missouri. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, man? How you doing?
- [83:25]
Callers / Audience Members
Hey, Stephen A. I owe you an apology. I. I called in a while ago when I came at you like Cuomo, very salty, very. Some. Some very spicy language. So I'm. So now it's low, low sodium, no sodium, squeaky clean.
- [83:44]
Stephen A. Smith
Promise. It's okay. It's all right. But Cuomo doesn't come at me like that. That's one of my. That's one. That's one of my good friends. I love Chris Cuomo. He doesn't come at me like that.
- [83:53]
Callers / Audience Members
Like I would come at Cuomo.
- [83:54]
Stephen A. Smith
Oh, you look at Cuomo. Got it. No problem. Go ahead.
- [84:00]
Callers / Audience Members
But I think what the Democrats are missing is vision, because MAGA is. It's very. The word is evocative. People know what that looks like to them. You know, make America great again. You know, they have an idea of what America used to be like, and it creates a very clear image in their mind. But Democrats don't have that. There's no real clear vision of where we want to go, you know, who we want to be. What's the country going to look like, and what's it going to be like to live in?
- [84:37]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, listen, I mean, right now, you got people that's going to make their decisions for whatever reason. The country is in flux right now because, I mean, in my opinion, well, we're devoid of leadership. Now, you might look at Trump and say, you know what? He's the leader. He's the leader of the Republican Party. I'm talking about American leadership. I'm talking about somebody who's in office and thinking about the collective whole instead of themselves and what they want and how they can manipulate things to ensure that they get their way, you know, under the guise that whatever it is that they suggest is best for America when. Fact. When the fact of the matter is that's not necessarily always true. And so, for me, I just look at it from that standpoint, and there has to be some kind of declaration, quorum, some kind of order. And I think the latest thing with Trump is perhaps the most despicable. You know, when you have a $1.8 trillion slush fund that, that. That you've created and that you're going to give some of that money to insurrection is these are. You know, it's not everybody that was there, but certainly everybody associated with it didn't deserve to be let off. You let them off because they sided with you. You let them off because they sided with your vision. You targeted what representatives chosen by the people in the United States of America just for the sole, express purpose that these people didn't support you as much as you did. John Cornyn voted with Trump 99% of the time. What did Trump say? He was a little bit late in his endorsement of Trump. He didn't. He didn't come to support Trump early enough or he. He didn't do that. It's like. It's like, really, this is what you're doing. And the people that he's targeted are people that you know, aren't puppets to him, which gives the impression that anybody who does support him is indeed a puppet. Now, that might not be true, but that's the impression the president is giving them, which is why people talk about authoritarian rule and dictatorship and stuff like that. We know that's not applicable in a democratic society, but guess what? It is. If you don't have representatives and Senate figures that show a spine and are willing to push back on some of the things that he suggests, you got Republicans right now standing up saying, no, the slush fund is not a. Is not a good idea. That is a terrible, terrible damn look. But you got an abundance of people who won't say anything. You can't have that in our government. You can't have that. That's not America. That's not what America's all about. That's not what we stand for. And so some of the things that he's done, you know, are just utterly despicable. The redistricting thing and the gerrymandering and all of that stuff.
- [87:04]
Callers / Audience Members
He.
- [87:04]
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah, that's a pain in the neck. We know it's wrong. You know, and things that lend itself towards making it more difficult to. To. To identify racial discrimination and stuff like that based off of Section 2 of the Voting Rights act of 1965, we got all of these things to point to. That's true. But in the end, when you don't have a $2 billion to spend in a month for TSA workers, but you got 2 billion to spend per day on a war, when we're over $39 trillion in debt, but somehow, some way, you've made over $4 billion on your own. When we have that same amount of debt and you still turn around and you create a slush fund to get even more of the American taxpayer money. When you campaign on lessening our debt and lowering our monetary, you know, fiduciary obligations, et cetera, when you do stuff like this, you just. Unethical beyond reproach. And that's what the hell he's been doing. And that's what's so disappointing about what we're seeing and what we're hearing right now. And it's just that simple, Will.
- [88:06]
Callers / Audience Members
100% on all that, all of it. But what the Democrats need is not just a leader, but. But a leader with a vision that, you know, kind of. Kind of inspires something, you know, something that. That.
- [88:21]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, they got to be inspirational and they got to be consistent. You can't have values that fluctuate with the Wind, you know, it's like, you know, you got Gavin Newsom. Yeah, you look the part, you artic, you're very articulate, you're very smart. You obviously know the issues, but it doesn't negate the fact that you come across as too damn slick sometimes instead of really, really authentic. And yeah, you're gonna battle Trump and that's what people want to see and that's cool. But if your behavior is mimicking Trump now, who's to say it's not going to mimic Trump once you get in office? So these are the kind of things that you got to take into consideration as well. Well, I gotta run, but I appreciate the call and thank you so much for calling in. Joe in Texas, you're live with Stephen A. Talk to me, Joe.
- [89:02]
Callers / Audience Members
Hey, hey, Stephen. Hey, look, you're a long time, I'm a long time advocate. Read your books, first take and all of that. I want to say that at the front, give me 30 seconds. Just say, say this. Stephen, are you on point with if black folk would vote Republican one time? It was in a huge message. Let me explain this real quickly. I'm a politician. I'm not. I'm a political scientist. Politics is about who gets what, when, why and where and what are the consequences for people. Black people don't seem to understand how politics, politics and economics go hand in hand. We're not getting anything tangible for our vote. Other groups are. I ain't worried about them. I'm talking about us, like you talking about we are politically ignorant about economics and a lot of cases, politics. I'm just gonna be honest. I just got to say it, okay? Blacks would send this message. It would be huge. Stephen A.
- [89:55]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, well, what you're looking. Hold on, hold on, Joe. To remind my listeners what you're alluding to. I made news a few weeks ago because something that I've been saying for 20 years suddenly became news and that is that I felt for one election, I wished every, every black person would vote Republican. That way the Republican Party would think they'd have a shot at our vote. The Democratic Party would have to work for our vote and we no longer be disenfranchised because we'd have two parties working to gather our vote, which means they would cater to us and our needs more rather than just giving up lip service. Giving us lip service. That is what you're alluding to when you're saying that you listen to, to me and you heard what I had to say just for my listeners purposes.
- [90:43]
Callers / Audience Members
And, and I Think that would make us quickly more politically relevant right in this time. See the way power works, everybody got an interest, everybody wants something and I'm okay with that. But as a, as a, as a group, us and our so called leaders have just really failed us. I'm sorry, the Black Caucus in every state in Washington. It's a shame.
- [91:05]
Stephen A. Smith
Let me, let me say this, tend to reject. We got to stop saying that. Like I remember I said this to somebody. You have some people like they, they're talking about, it's a disastrous policy, it's bad for America. You have some people, millions of people in America. That's exactly what they want. They don't, they, they, they want America to struggle. They want the system as we know it to be burnt to the ground. This is not their definition of failure. It's their definition of success. So we got to stop talking about it's awful, it's a failure. It's, this is that there are people in America, that's exactly what they want. They don't want anybody rich, they don't want anybody prospering. They want everybody to be on equal footing. And if we're struggling society, that's what they want. They don't believe in capitalism, they don't believe in a lot of these different things. Things. You have people in America who feel that way that are American citizens and we just have to accept that ignorance.
- [92:03]
Callers / Audience Members
But it's ignorance, Stephen. Hey, that's the point I'm trying to make. I'm with you. You're right. I've said I'm 76 years old, African American, black man in Texas and I'm with you brother.
- [92:12]
Stephen A. Smith
I got you. Joe. I gotta go, I gotta go to break. But there's a people that, that's what they want, that's how they feel and that's just the way it is. That's not their definition of failure. And so we gotta stop saying they're failing when that may be exactly what they wanted. They just want something different than most of us who don't mind capitalism want. Plain and simple. 86696 POTUS. That is the number to call right here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Your call is to close out the show in a minute. Breaking news right here, 49 minutes past hour. Number two on straight shooting with George Truly. Stephen A. The United States military carries out new strikes in Iran Wednesday night, targeting a site that posed a threat to US forces and commercial traffic. According to the US official, the United States also intercepted drones being launched from Iran. The official Added. So essentially, ladies and gentlemen, we're at war. Where? War. Period. No way around it. We're at war. 866-96-96 POTUS is the number to call up this 866-967-6887. That is the number to call into the to straight shooter with yours truly, Jennifer. I don't know if the screen is frozen or not or whatever, trying to get to these calls. Sissy in Texas. You're live with Stephen A. What's up, Sissy?
- [93:42]
Callers / Audience Members
Well, hi. Thank you for taking my call. So you were talking about Trump and someone Democrats putting up someone to take advantage of all the fodder that he's given them to, you know, whip him to come back with. We've never had a president. To me, one thing to come back with is his utter lack of respect for the office and his other utter lack of respect for other presidents and for history. He's the only president. I'm 70 years old. He's the only president who has never backed out of the spotlight when he was not president. He's never gone away. He butts his nose into everything.
- [94:26]
Stephen A. Smith
Let me stop, Let me stop you, Sissy. Here's the problem. Respectfully, I don't think you're taking into account that there are tens of millions of Americans who want exactly that from him. Not me, not you. But that's what they want. They want a truculent, acerbic, belligerent, disrespectful narcissist in the White House who can give 2 cents about contemporaries on Capitol Hill or anybody who supports them, because that's how they feel about those politicians. You can have decorum, respect and all of this other stuff. If you sat up there and said, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, I don't like this guy, and stuff like that, that's fine. But when Trump says he's an idiot, it's rigged, he's stupid. This person's low iq. They're like, yeah, that's what we want to hear. That is the bottom line, Sissy, when you point to Trump, the mistake, in my humble opinion, you are making is that you are not giving enough consideration to the fact that tens of millions of people want him to be just like that.
- [95:53]
Callers / Audience Members
Believe me, I understand that because I live in Texas. I get it, believe me. But for the swing voters, for people who, and that's what it's going to come down to, is for swing voters bringing that sense of decorum and order and tired of being exhausted by all his Chaos and all of his disrespect for anyone except himself. I think that. I don't think that needs to be the crux of their platform, but it needs to be included because I think people want to hear it.
- [96:26]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, I have said it. I've said it on numerous occasions, but I can't help it if people don't hear. I mean, I can't regurgitate the same thing over and over and over again. I'm not my. I'm not my guy. Sean Hannity. This guy can repeat the same thing night in and night out, 360 days out of the year. It's unbelievable. I can't do something like that. I'd be bored to death, and I wouldn't want to do radio anymore. But I hear where you're coming from, and I thank you for your call. I really, really appreciate it. By the way, ladies and gentlemen, another exclusive. The Justice Department launches a criminal investigation into Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll, former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury and testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against the president, one alleging he sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when in 2019, he repeatedly denied the assault, saying she wasn't his type and claimed she made it up to boost sales of a book. They are now investigating her weaponizing the Justice Department. I'm so surprised. I'm so surprised. Let's go to. Let's go to. What is this gory in California? Is that who that is?
- [97:40]
Callers / Audience Members
That is right, sir. That's gre.
- [97:42]
Stephen A. Smith
Gr. How are you, sir? How's everything? Go ahead.
- [97:45]
Callers / Audience Members
So far, so good, sir. I was wondering if anybody has come to the root of one of the roots of the problem, which is how much of our education has been undermined. And as a result, we've got this entire group of people who feel validated when Trump does the things he does. I was listening to what you were saying to the earlier caller, and I completely agree with the question about the decorum and their behavior. But the reason that they are okay with that is because the educational system has, number one, been undermined, and number two, they have now been led to believe that, for example, you want to talk about capitalism, right? Do you understand that capitalism is good, but when it becomes exploitative and you don't have the government stopping the exploitation, that's not good for you.
- [98:38]
Stephen A. Smith
Hold on Holder Guri. Who the hell doesn't understand that with $39 trillion in debt? Of course we understand that. The point is, it also explains the level of frustration on the part of the American citizen out there, disgusted with what has transpired in Capitol Hill. Because when you're $39 trillion in debt, you know what the real question to ask Gary is? You know what the real question is? Where the hell is our money? Where in the hell is our money? A daily debt, US national debt, added daily since October has eclipsed $5 billion. Where the is our money? Where is it? That's where the frustration comes from, because it's coming back to bite the American people. You can talk about education and all of that stuff, and you're right, but that's above people's heads. What's right here on the ground level. Ground is what they got to deal with every day and the fact that their taxes are going to be raised and the fact that affordability is an issue and all of this other stuff that comes with it. While you enrich yourself, we're becoming poorer. It's a problem. It's a problem. Trump 2.1 billion cryptocurrency and liquid assets, 1.2 billion in media and technology groups, 1.5 billion golf clubs and resorts, 1.2 billion real estate investments, 551 million other assets. He's using the White House to conduct business and enrich himself. Who the hell doesn't understand that now? He's a businessman and he's allowed to do it. He's not breaking any laws. But I thought he was supposed to be enriching us. That's the point. Gotta go. Who's in Pennsylvania want to talk to me about Trump? Anthony, what's up?
- [100:30]
Callers / Audience Members
Long time. I'm pretty okay. I listened to you when you was on sports radio. Maybe you still is. But I agree with most of what you said. But I agree with what that Indian fellow from California said, too. Because the American people have been dumbed down. Come on, man. We've been dumbed down since the Reagan years. And the son bullshit has even made it worse. Obama try to bring.
- [100:49]
Stephen A. Smith
It's not about. I'm not. I'm not trying to sit up here and say there's not dumb people in this country, but that's simplifying it too much, man. It's not about a lack of intelligence. It's about an elevated level of frustration. You trying to make ends meet, man. You trying to survive. You trying to feed your family and keep a roof over your head and clothes on your back and drive. Have a car to drive to work. You don't want to see somebody in the White House enriching themselves and their cronies and their family members while you're struggling. That's the path to attack. It's just that simple. Anthony. I gotta run. That's it for this week. A straight shooter with yours truly. I'll be back next Wednesday night, 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124. Hope y' all enjoyed the show. Thanks again to Robin Costa for coming on as well. Holla at y' all next week. Until then, peace and love. I'm Kiana, and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like, I can't stop. I'm addicted. Start your free trial@shopify.com with Verbocare. Help is always ready before, during, and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind.