Stephen A Smith weighs in after Trump, Biden debate: 'Have your fears now been confirmed?'

Outspoken media personality Stephen A. Smith chimed in on Thursday night's presidential debate.

The longtime ESPN commentator has openly discussed politics in recent years, despite the network's push to "stick to sports" and steer away from political commentary, notably since Jimmy Pitaro took over as the company's president in 2018.

Smith reaffirmed his willingness to dive into the political realm when he appeared on NewsNation on Thursday night during the network's presidential debate coverage. 

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Shortly after the debate ended, Smith took to social media to share some more thoughts on what transpired in Atlanta. He also called out Vice President Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama when he offered his take on the debate.

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"So do y’all finally want to stop arguing with me about Biden now???" Smith shared in a post on X. "Have your fears now been confirmed? @MichelleObama. @VP. Somebody. Please help! Biden’s team WANTED this? His staff, His loved ones…. How could you put him out there like that! How could you!"

In addition to his role with ESPN, Smith hosts "The Stephen A. Smith Show." He has previously stated that the podcast is separate from his duties at the network, and that the platform grants him the freedom to discuss politics or other things in the news that he is interested in. 

Pitaro took over as ESPN president in 2018. Under his leadership, the network has consciously veered away from programming and commentary that delves into politics or race relations. 

"I’ve had this discussion internally with hundreds of our employees that sports is about uniting and ESPN needs to unite people around sports," Pitaro told The Washington Post in 2019. "That’s our role, or one of our roles."

He added that he also tries to listen to what sports fans are saying about the programming they want to see.

"Of course I am, and I have my own views. But I also recognize that when I or one of our on-air personalities speak publicly, that that is received as the opinions of ESPN, and that can’t be. We look at what our fans are telling us," said Pitaro.

"What we’ve said from Day 1 is that we’re the place of record, we are covering the intersection of sports and politics. That hasn’t changed. Why is it impossible to make the distinction between sports news and non-sports news?"

However, in July 2019, then-ESPN radio host Dan Le Batard called out the network for placing restrictions on political commentary. 

"We here at ESPN don’t have the stomach for the fight," Le Batard said on his radio show at the time. "We don’t talk about what is happening unless there is some sort of weak, cowardly sports angle that we can run it through." Le Batard's comments came on the heels of "send her back" chants directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that broke out during a political rally. 

Smith has become one of ESPN's biggest stars, and he is reportedly in the midst of contract negotiations with the network. According to Puck, Smith's contract expires in 2025, but he has been offered a new deal that could pay him $18 million on an annual basis.

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ABC’s ‘The View’ erupts with calls for Biden to step aside after debate: ‘Maybe he needs to go’

Several anti-Trump pundits on ABC’s "The View" said President Biden should abandon his re-election campaign following his widely panned performance at Thursday’s debate.

The reliably liberal daytime gabfest aired a montage of news-making moments from the CNN Presidential Debate, which went so poorly for Biden that many of his media allies have expressed concern about his fitness to serve another term. Biden has been criticized for looking and sounding too old, repeatedly losing his train of thought mid-sentence, and overall doing nothing to diminish concerns about his age and mental viability.

Co-host Sunny Hostin, a strong Biden supporter, told the panel "most of us are mourning."

"It was really hard to watch and it kind of pains me to say this today, but I think President Biden needs to step down and be replaced," co-host Sara Haines said. 

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"If we want to defeat Donald Trump in November, I absolutely think that," she continued. "And I think Biden’s team saw it coming. I think that’s why they pushed for an earlier debate, so they’d have time to change course if needed." 

Haines urged people close to Biden to have the "very hard conversation" that he needs to step aside. 

"Democrats need to stop spinning the age problem," Haines said. 

"Joy Behar at 81 is not Joe Biden at 81 and that was on full display last night. But let me be clear, if November comes and President Biden and President Trump are on the ticket, I will 100% be voting for President Biden, because the alternative is too scary for me, but I fear many people in this country do not feel the same way," she said. 

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked for the Trump administration but has since emerged as an outspoken critic of her former boss, said she was in "shock" watching the debate. 

"I’ve had concerns for a couple of years about Biden’s age. It was stunningly worse than I expected, the performance," Griffin said. 

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"He needs to put country before his own ambition and he needs to step aside and pass the baton," Griffin added. "If it’s Trump versus Biden, Trump is gonna [win]."

Hostin conceded Biden "lost that debate." 

"Maybe he needs to go," she said, echoing what several Biden allies in the media have said. 

"Maybe he needs to be honest with himself and the American people," she continued. "He can bow out at this time with grace and dignity. He has a record he can be proud of." 

As they called for Biden to step aside, Hostin and Griffin noted they still loathed Trump, calling him a "racist" and a threat to democracy. Hostin believes both parties should be looking to change the top of their tickets, but co-host Ana Navarro, a token Republican on the show who supports Democrats, wasn’t ready to pull the plug.

"I love Joe Biden, and I’ve known Joe Biden for over 20 years, I’ve never seen Joe Biden like I saw him last night. It is worrisome, but … until Joe Biden tells me he is giving up, I’m not giving up on Joe Biden," Navarro said. 

"He looked elderly yesterday, he sounded elderly, he is elderly, but the choice is no different, he is a very old man versus a very bad man," Navarro said. "I’m not going to judge Joe Biden on 90 bad minutes."

Griffin disagreed and said the "stakes are too high" for Democrats to stick with Biden. 

Joy Behar insisted Biden looked better later in the evening when he addressed supporters at a watch party and pondered what went wrong on the debate stage. 

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"Suddenly no cold. Suddenly he was 63," she said. "So, what happened?" 

"Where the hell was that, Joe?" Navarro asked.

Griffin said Biden was "historically bad" and said she feels "duped" by the White House after months of claiming Biden is sharp as a tack. 

After a commercial break, the ABC News program discussed who could replace Biden on the ticket, with Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg getting mentioned. 

There has been no indication, however, that Biden is stepping aside from his campaign, and he has already clinched the 2024 Democratic nomination.