Smith called the trial 'much ado about nothing'
Stephen A. Smith talks 2024 presidential election
ESPN personality and OutKick's Clay Travis talk about who the pundit will vote for in the 2024 presidential election.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith called out liberals directly for pursuing criminal trials against former President Trump, saying that they’re "scared" they "can’t beat him on the issues."
Smith made the comments during the Tuesday episode of "The Stephen A. Smith Show," which was also day two of Trump’s trial over his hush money case with porn star Stormy Daniels.
As the trial continued with the swearing in of the first six jurors, Smith argued that the case amounts to an admission on the part of Trump’s political opponents that they can’t beat him in an election and have to resort to lawfare tactics.
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ESPN host Stephen A. Smith trashed liberals for continuing to pursue court cases against former President Trump, saying it shows theyre "scared" they cant beat him under normal circumstances. (1)Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images, 2)James Devaney/GC Images)
"It’s much ado about nothing," Smith said on the podcast. "To my liberal friends out there, all you’re doing is showing that you’re scared you can’t beat him on the issues and the merits."
The host continued, noting this is why Trump "keeps saying it’s a political campaign against me."
"That’s why he keeps saying they can’t beat me at the election, at the polls. This is the only way they can do it," he said.
Smith also gave a warning about where this strategy will lead, especially if Trump is never put in jail, predicting there will "never be peace in this country" as a result.
"And if you don’t put him in jail, and he still goes from being the presumptive GOP nominee to the official GOP nominee, and he goes to the polls, even though he was going to whine about winning and being rigged again, you have given more fodder to that argument, which means we’ll never have peace in this country."
"Because tens of millions of people see what extent the other side is willing to go through just to keep him out of office because they can’t beat him on their own merits," he added.
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In March, the sports commentator ripped the Democratic Party for similar reasons, slamming it for not having found a candidate that can beat Trump fair and square. (PBD podcast)
Smith expressed frustration last month that the Democratic Party seems to be relying on court cases to hurt Trump rather than find a candidate who can beat him at the ballot box.
"Four indictments, 91 counts and the man gets more campaign dollars, climbing in the polls, okay?" he continued. "And last time I checked, he still ain’t been in cuffs, he still ain’t been put behind bars. And he’s the presumptive GOP nominee. You can’t stop him. You cannot stop him."
"And so for me, I find myself ashamed of the Democratic Party for their lack of a competitive fervor," he added.
"You had since 2016 to come up with somebody else, and you still can’t do it? That is pathetic. It is pathetic," he said. "And there is no excuse for it whatsoever."
Back on his Tuesday podcast, Smith said that he will not vote third-party in the 2024 election, though he added, "If I did it, you deserve it."
"You can’t beat [Trump]," he said, "Everything you do shows me you can’t beat him. It’s a damn shame. It really, really is. It’s embarrassing."
Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
