Stephen A. Smith Takes Aim at Jill Biden
Stephen A. Smith is not known for pulling punches, and during a recent appearance on Andrew Cuomo’s WABC radio show, the outspoken sportscaster delivered one of his sharpest criticisms yet of former First Lady Jill Biden and Democratic Party leadership over the handling of President Joe Biden’s health during the 2024 election cycle.
The comments were prompted by Jill Biden’s recent admission that she feared her husband might have been suffering a stroke during his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump. For Smith, the revelation raised an obvious question: if those concerns were serious enough to cross her mind during the debate, why did the public hear a very different message afterward?
“That last part really, really disturbed me, and it really bothered me,” Smith said.
His frustration centered on what happened immediately following the debate. Despite widespread concern over Biden’s confused and halting performance, Jill Biden publicly praised her husband during a campaign appearance, telling him, “Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question, you knew all the facts.”
For Smith, that moment has become emblematic of a larger problem that continues to haunt Democrats.
“At that time, his wife comes out, and she applauds his effort, and she said he was wonderful and he answered all the questions and all of this other stuff,” Smith said.
According to Smith, those statements only reinforced the perception among many voters that Democratic leaders were unwilling to be candid about Biden’s condition.
“That only gives fodder to the narrative that Democrats are dishonest, not forthcoming, not open and always trying to find a way to manipulate and dictate a narrative,” he argued.
Smith also revisited his longstanding belief that Democrats missed a critical opportunity after concerns about Biden’s fitness became impossible to ignore. Rather than allowing a competitive primary process to unfold, he believes party leaders backed themselves into a corner.
“They had an opportunity to push him out and to position themselves to have a primary where a viable candidate to go up against Donald Trump would have happened the right way,” Smith said.
While he was careful not to directly criticize Kamala Harris as a candidate, Smith argued that the process that elevated her to the top of the ticket left Democrats politically vulnerable.
“What I am trying to say, however, is the process that she had to endure was wrong because by bypassing a primary and ultimately being inserted as the Democratic nominee.”
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo largely agreed with Smith’s assessment. Cuomo acknowledged that many Democrats defended Biden despite what he viewed as obvious signs of decline.
“It was all a crock,” Cuomo said. “Anyone who saw him knew that this.”
Cuomo went on to argue that the episode damaged the party’s credibility with voters.
“I think it cost us a great amount of credibility, especially the Democratic Party, which is supposed to be the party of truth and courage.”
What made the discussion notable was that neither man framed the issue as an endorsement of Republicans or President Trump. In fact, both emphasized that they continue to have major disagreements with the GOP and the current administration.
Smith argued that Democrats have become overly focused on opposing Trump while failing to address the reasons voters lost confidence in them.
“You’re lacking credibility because you focused on the wrong things,” he said.
Cuomo echoed that sentiment, contending that Democrats need to present a clear vision for the future rather than relying solely on criticism of Trump.