Stephen A. Smith says he took “major offense” to comments made by Michelle Obama during the 2024 presidential campaign, accusing her of unfairly scolding young Black men for considering Donald Trump.
The ESPN host, who has often praised Obama as “the greatest First Lady in American history,” said her remarks while campaigning for Kamala Harris left him “pretty salty.”
On Saturday’s episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith responded to being mentioned by Obama on her podcast IMO, where she compared ESPN to Real Housewives of Atlanta and said Smith was “just like every other talk show host.”
Smith brushed off the comparison but zeroed in on Obama’s campaign speech in Michigan last October, where she told rally-goers she was “a little frustrated” by men not backing Harris. “You said a vote for Trump was a vote against you and a vote against y’all as women,” Smith recalled. “I took major offense to that.”
He defended Black men, saying, “We don’t just love our Black women, we revere y’all. And to say what you said back then… I didn’t appreciate it.”
Obama, speaking on women’s health care and abortion access, urged voters not to trust “politicians — mostly men — who have no clue or do not care about what we, as women, are going through.” Smith said many men had other concerns like the economy, immigration, and national security.
He also took issue with Barack Obama’s comments from the same campaign cycle, accusing the former president of subtly labeling Black male voters as misogynistic.
Still, Smith ended with praise: “You’ll never hear me utter a negative word about you. I just respectfully disagreed. And for the record, Michelle Obama would have beaten Trump — and any GOP candidate — if she ran.”