Keith Olbermann has issued ESPN an ultimatum: silence Stephen A. Smith or fire him.
In a recent interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Smith spoke negatively about how the left has tried to use former President Donald Trump's ongoing hush money trial in New York to prevent him from running for re-election in November because, according to Smith, they can't beat Trump on the issues.
These comments didn't sit well with Olbermann, who called on ESPN to fire or silence their longtime star.
"Why is ESPN letting Stephen A. Smith go on Fox News and campaign for Donald Trump," Olbermann asked in a video posted to his X account.
"They either have to silence him, or they have to get rid of him," Olbermann said.
ESPN MUST SILENCE OR FIRE @StephenASmith. Times have changed; you can no longer mix sportscasts and pimping Trump
AND TRUMP WANTS HIS MOBS ON THE STEPS OF COURTHOUSES. Judge’s ruling on his 13 gag order violations looms
GET TUESDAY’S COUNTDOWN PODCAST: https://t.co/oV7dWUqzuW pic.twitter.com/KmnT8Jvpdj
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 23, 2024
Olbermann also said that the days of sports commentators crossing over into political commentary are over, and that Smith should focus on sports.
Smith told Hannity that he was "utterly disgusted" by what he was seeing, a clip from the interview posted to the USA Features Media X account showed.
Addressing liberals, Smith said that "you don't seem to have the issues in your favor, you believe. So, because of that, you're going to manipulate the system as best as you possibly can to avoid him possibly running for re-election again."
Smith said that the left's strategy regarding Trump "is not working" and that he doesn't "mind the fact that it's not working."
"I might not be a supporter of Donald Trump, but I want him to lose the right way," Smith said.
But perhaps the most controversial statement came when Smith said Trump wasn't wrong when he said that black voters are turning to support him.
"As much as people may have been abhorred by Donald Trump's statement weeks ago talking about how black folks, he's hearing that black folks find him relatable because what he's going through is similar to what black Americans have gone through, he wasn't lying. He was telling the truth," Smith said.
It wasn't just Olbermann who was upset by Smith's comments. The NACCP strongly disagreed with Smith's assessment that Trump was relatable to black Americans.
Relatable!?! Show of hands: Anyone in your Black family have 88 felony charges pending, filed for bankruptcy 6x, made an attempt to overthrow a presidential election and our democracy, and still have the ability to fall asleep in court and dream of being POTUS? #BLASPHEMOUS https://t.co/xtG40vpTQ2
— NAACP (@NAACP) April 19, 2024
The backlash apparently got to Smith, as he issued an apology video on his YouTube page on Tuesday in which he said he "sincerely apologized" for his comments.
"To be clear, my words were misconstrued. I'm stating right here for the record that my words were taken out of context," Smith said.
Smith said that his comments were in reference to articles from the outlets such as the New York Times, NBC News and The Hill that have shown black voters shifting toward Trump.
"I'm seeing a momentum shift, as we all have," Smith said.
Smith also responded to the NAACP directly on X.
This is absolutely, positively, sad that you — @NAACP — would misrepresent my comments like this. I was asked what Blacks WHO SUPPORT TRUMP are thinking as to why they support him. I answer THAT question. Sad! But you’re entitled. Good luck. Maybe that will beat Trump, since… https://t.co/bQXK5Ldfuz
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 20, 2024
Unfortunately, cancel culture wins again.
Olbermann and the NAACP became enraged because Smith was merely relaying facts about how Trump is gaining popularity among black voters.
It's asinine that leftists can become so upset when you present them with a fact that doesn't match their narrative, they immediately call for you to be silenced or fired from your job.
So much for free speech.
In actuality, the left believes in free speech, they just have to agree with what's being said. As Bobby Burack from OutKick pointed out, Olbermann had no problem when Smith criticized Trump in an interview on NewNation last month.
Smith is no fan of Trump; he said as much in his interview with Hannity. He simply said that he can understand why many black voters are likely to vote for Trump in November.
And instead of taking Smith's advice and trying to beat Trump based on superior policy, leftists have resorted to trying to literally throw him away in jail.
These are the same people that cry that Trump is going to ruin democracy.
The idiocy here cannot be overstated. The left is mad at a journalist for reporting facts.
It just goes to show the true mentality of the left: They don't care about you; they just want you to go along with their plan.
It'll be interesting to see if this mentality will help them out at ballot boxes in November.
