Stephen A. Smith is not backing down from anyone right now, and he is making that crystal clear on camera and online. After days of being blasted for his comments about Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents, the ESPN star has turned his fire on the people coming for his job and his character. In his words, the critics trying to cancel him “should be ashamed,” and he is treating the backlash as a referendum on who gets to speak bluntly about politics and race in public.
From Capitol Hill to First Take: How the Crockett feud exploded
The latest storm around Stephen A. Smith started with his reaction to the ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good and the way Texas Democratic congresswoman Jasmine Crockett challenged President Donald Trump and his policies. Smith zeroed in on what he saw as Crockett’s style, arguing that the way the Texas Democratic lawmaker “expresses herself” in opposition to President Donald Trump and his agenda risks overshadowing the work she is trying to do for the constituents who elected her to office, a critique that quickly drew accusations that he was disrespecting a Black woman in power and minimizing the stakes of the ICE killing. That earlier criticism of the Texas Democratic congresswoman, laid out as he was calling out her approach, set the stage for the much sharper clash that followed.
When Smith revisited the ICE killing on television this month, he doubled down on that line of criticism, saying the way Jasmine Crockett chooses to express herself in these fights raises questions about whether she is there to “get stuff done” or to build a brand. That framing, which he delivered while discussing the Renee Nicole Good case and the broader political response, was captured in coverage that highlighted how he contrasted her tone with what he sees as the job of a lawmaker, and it fueled a new round of outrage from viewers who felt he was punching down at a Black woman confronting state violence, a reaction reflected in detailed accounts of his ICE comments.
“They should be ashamed”: Smith’s counterattack on Crockett, Joy Reid and Olbermann
Once the backlash hit, Stephen A. Smith did what he usually does, he grabbed a camera and went on offense. In a clip shared widely on social media, he fired back at criticism from Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and TV host Joy Reid, insisting that “they should be ashamed” for using their platforms to paint him as an enemy of Black women instead of engaging with his actual argument. In that same video, Stephen A. Smith framed the dispute as a bad faith attempt to score points with their audiences, saying that Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and TV Host Joy Reid were misrepresenting his record and that they were turning a policy debate into a personal smear campaign.
His frustration did not stop there. In another interview clip, when a host pressed him to respond to the idea that he has a “track record of coming for Black women,” Smith answered, “Sure,” before pushing back hard on that narrative and calling it “appalling” that people would twist his commentary into a blanket attack on Black women in media and politics. That exchange, which surfaced in a preview of his ABC News Live appearance, showed him bristling at the suggestion that his critiques of figures like Jasmine Crockett and Joy Reid are rooted in misogyny rather than disagreement over strategy, a tension captured in the segment where he responds, “Sure,” and then explains why he found that framing so offensive, as seen in the ABC News clip.
Smith also took aim at liberal critics outside politics, zeroing in on former SportsCenter anchor Keith Olbermann after Olbermann publicly argued that ESPN should fire him. In a fiery response video, Smith mocked Olbermann’s appearance, snapping, “Who looks more like a cartoon character than you? Keith Olbermann, you can’t run five feet with your fat self,” and dismissing the idea that Olbermann, with his own long history of controversies, had any moral standing to call for his job. That rant, which included Smith saying he was “sick” of Olbermann’s “pathetic ass,” underscored how personal this fight has become, with Smith treating Olbermann’s call for his ouster as pure hypocrisy, a point that came through clearly in his Olbermann takedown.
A possible 2028 run and the bigger fight over who gets to speak
All of this is unfolding as Stephen A. Smith openly toys with a political future of his own. He has said he is “dead serious” about considering a run for president in 2028, describing how he would relish the chance to confront the political establishment on a debate stage and challenge the culture that has taken root on Capitol Hill. In one interview he framed it as a response to what he sees in Washington, saying he is tired of the same voices dominating the conversation and hinting that his brand of blunt talk could shake up the status quo, a possibility he laid out in an exclusive interview that instantly fueled speculation.
Smith has also acknowledged that people close to him are nudging him toward that path. He said his own pastor called and told him, “Don’t close the door,” and he has pointed to the way his clashes with figures like U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett have already dragged him into the political arena. In another account of that conversation, Smith added that he would be lying if he said he would not consider a run, especially after hearing from supporters who believe his voice could matter in a race that might include Donald Trump and other heavyweights, a dynamic he described while talking about his pastor’s advice and his critics, including Don and other political insiders.
That political flirtation is part of why his current blowups are getting so much attention. In one lengthy follow up video, Stephen A. Smith spent significant time calling out his critics, focusing again on Keith Olbermann and arguing that his commentary on politics and the ICE killing was being twisted into a claim that he was damaging ESPN’s brand. He pushed back on the idea that he should stick to sports, insisting that his audience is smart enough to handle his views on policy and race, a stance that was laid out in coverage of his political commentary and his extended response to Olbermann.
On social media, the back and forth has turned into a running storyline of its own. One clip, shared with the caption “HU Staff: Ariela Anís @ari.anis,” shows Stephen A. Smith clapping back at criticism from Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas, and TV host Joy Reid, making it clear he is not interested in apologizing just to quiet the noise, a stance highlighted in the HU Staff post. Another post from Staff writer Ariela Anís underscores that Stephen A. Smith is not backing away from the controversy and directs followers to a longer breakdown of his comments and the reaction, framing the saga as part of a broader conversation about how Black media figures talk about Black politicians, a framing that appears in the Ariela An write up.
His name is even popping up in unexpected places, like a Black culture page that paired coverage of Achol Kuir Thuch in Giorgio Armani Privé with a note about Stephen A. Smith’s latest controversy. That post sat alongside a clip of Donnie McClurkin under the line “Donnie McClurkin Addresses Civil Lawsuit After Man Accuses Him Of Sexual Abuse: ‘People Do Things For Different Reasons, Most Ar…,’” and it tagged Smith in a broader conversation about how public figures are judged in the court of social media, a juxtaposition that showed up in the BlkCosmo update. And conservative media has seized on the moment too, highlighting how Stephen A. Smith attacks critics accusing him of “disrespecting” Jasmine Crockett and quoting him saying Democrats are “lost,” as well as repeating his unfiltered description of one critic as a “piece of s—,” language that surfaced in coverage of his shameful critics rant.
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