Stephen A. Smith shocked Bill Maher's audience into silence Friday night with his frank assessment of why Donald Trump earned his return to the White House.
ESPN star Smith, who made a name for himself in sports media, has recently become more vocal on political issues since Trump won the election in November.
Smith voted Democratic at the time, but quickly admitted that he regretted the choice he made.
In recent weeks he has been critical of the party and even recently predicted that they will have a difficult time defeating JD Vance in the upcoming 2028 presidential election.
Maher asked Smith for his opinion on the late-night talk show while sitting next to Republican Congressman Ro Khanna.
And his response stunned the Maher crowd into silence as Smith honestly took down the Democrats.
Stephen A. Smith stunned Bill Maher's audience with a political rant on Friday
Donald Trump flew to Los Angeles on Friday after officially returning to the White House.
He said: 'The man was charged twice, he was convicted of 34 felonies and the American people still said “he's closer to normal than we see on the left.”
'Because? Because when you're talking about the transgender community, for example, and you're talking about issues that pertain to less than one percent of the population, the Democratic Party gave the impression that that was more of a priority than other issues.
'So when he shows up at the Capitol the first week, he says, “This is what we're going to do by executive order,” even though it will be rejected in court.
But he's saying, “I kept my promise.” Then you turn around and look to the left and say “What promises did you keep?”
'What voter can look at the Democratic Party and say, “There is a voice for us, someone who speaks for us, who goes up to the Capitol and fights the fights we want fought on our behalf.”
'They didn't do that and that's why their butts are home, and that man is back in the White House. He's doing what he said he was going to do. He promised you he was going to do these things and he came into office and that's exactly what he's doing.'
Smith admitted earlier this week that Triumph put himself above the law by pardoning two notorious former far-right leaders involved in the assault on the Capitol.
Just hours into his second term as president, Trump sparked a huge controversy by releasing from prison Stewart Rhodes, founder of the anti-government 'militia' Oath Keepers, and Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, who previously led the extremist group Proud Boys. Tuesday.
Smith said Biden's Democratic Party is turning a deaf ear to the demands of American voters.
Smith believes Vance is well positioned to win the upcoming 2028 election against Democrats
Rhodes was serving an 18-year sentence for his role in the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, while Tarrio had been imprisoned for 22 years.
Even though both men were convicted of seditious conspiracy, one of Trump's first acts as president was to release them from prison after signing the pardon order.
And while his blanket pardon freed at least 1,500 people accused of the riot, which took place after his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, Smith believes Rhodes and Tarrio in particular should not have been allowed to walk free.
“In terms of pardoning the people from the riots at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, I don't agree with that decision by the president of the United States,” the ESPN First Take host said. he said on his YouTube show.
“I think a lot of people should have been pardoned. But when you take the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers (leaders) out of prison, and considering the charges that were brought against them… anyone who participated in violence, to me that should have been different.
'If you are the commander in chief of the United States of America, if you preach about the importance of law and order, and someone has blatantly committed acts of lawlessness, but you give them a pass just because they supported you… “You are not By supporting the law, you are supporting yourself.