On Monday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith expressed his approval of President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.
Trump attracted 13% of the Black vote, including 21% of men and 7% of women, according to exit polls from CNN. During an appearance on “Cuomo,” Smith criticized Democrats for relying on guilt and fear tactics instead of offering concrete policies to engage Black voters.
“We pointed out racism. We felt guilty for voting for them. Yet, the focus was never on our positive contributions, and that approach failed,” Smith remarked. “Regardless of what you think about the Trump administration, I’m pleased with how it turned out.”
He further suggested that Black Americans have been manipulated into voting for Democrats without receiving real benefits. “They’ve made us feel like we’re being marginalized, creating divides within our community to win our votes,” he said.
Smith previously indicated that the Democratic policies often clash with the values of conservative Black families. “Many of us vote for Democrats, but live conservatively, raised by parents who had strong beliefs. You can’t just bring home any ideas that contradict that upbringing,” he explained.
He remarked that since the Civil Rights Act in 1964, Black voters have consistently leaned Democratic, questioning whether this connection was based on fairness or something more complex.
Smith specifically criticized the party for neglecting issues like economic and border security, instead prioritizing social topics such as pronoun use and gender-related bathrooms. He did note that Trump was effective in addressing immigration enforcement, highlighting the drastic drop in border encounters during Trump’s administration compared to the current approach under President Joe Biden.
According to data from Customs and Border Protection, under Biden, there were approximately 8.5 million migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border from 2021 to 2024.
