President Donald Trump woke in a rage after his favorite sportscaster mocked him for sleeping at the Knicks game.
The president appeared to doze off during the Knicks’ NBA Finals game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, despite creating a huge fuss just to be there. Stephen A. Smith was critical of the president’s presence and nailed the near 80-year-old for catching some impromptu Zs.
“And guess what he was doing during the game, ladies and gentlemen? Go online, look at the videos. I’m not going to accuse him of snoring, because I wasn’t in earshot, but the brother wasn’t awake,” he said on ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday. “He wasn’t awake.”
“If it was that important for you to be there, why did you look like you were asleep? Didn’t you call out former President Joe Biden, ‘Sleepy Joe’? Well, what should we call you? Cause you weren’t awake,” he added.
This clearly caught Trump’s attention, who responded with a furious Truth Social post at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday. “Stephen A. Smith is an arrogant fool, a low IQ individual. In other words, he’s ‘dumb as a rock,’ and totally unqualified to ever think of running for high political office, or even low political office, for that matter!” he opened his furious post.
“He’d get annihilated in a debate by the most incompetent of politicians. Joe Biden’s now ‘fabled’ performance would look great by comparison to anything that this loudmouth huckster has to offer, which isn’t much! Within a few weeks, they’d laugh him out of politics!!!”
Trump has previously talked up Smith’s musings about a run for office in 2028. In April last year, Smith said he was leaving “all doors open” to a presidential run, earning praise from Trump. He said in May last year that he would “love” to see the popular sports broadcast personality run for president, describing him as “a smart guy.”
“I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you I’d love to see him run,” Trump said.
However, the relationship has turned sour over Smith’s criticism of Trump’s decision to attend the game at Madison Square Garden, which the Knicks lost. In fact, Smith said he blames the president for the end of the Knicks’ 13-game win streak.
In response to that, Trump suggested that the 58-year-old didn’t have what it takes to lead the nation. “He is a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One. “You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that, I don’t think he does actually.”
His Wednesday morning version included more vitriol. Smith’s issue stemmed from the fact that Trump’s presence at the playoff turned the event into a circus with airport-style security, thousands of cops and restrictive barriers stretching for blocks.
“Why am I blaming him, ladies and gentlemen? It’s very, very simple, because the president disrupted our mojo. I’ve said this on many occasions over the last 24 hours and I’m saying it again. The man messed things up,” Smith said.
