ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith stopped by Fox News to give the right-wing network’s audience a rare dose of the other side as he tussled with Sean Hannity.
Hannity said Vice President Kamala Harris is “struggling” in interviews because she’s “tied up in a pretzel” since she can’t defend her previous positions on key issues.
“She has to give us word salads because she won’t tell us how she really feels. She’s hiding her true beliefs,” Hannity said. “Donald Trump doesn’t do that.”
Given Trump’s frequent off-topic rambles and digressions, Smith wasn’t having it.
“I know somebody being lucid and cogent and enunciating their thoughts with clarity, and you’re bragging about Donald Trump,” Smith said. “We can’t be watching the same stuff, if that’s what you’re doing.”
“Oh, I am,” Hannity said.
Smith praised Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was also on Hannity’s show that evening, as an example of a much better public speaker from the right.
“That man can articulate himself very well,” Smith said. “Not Donald Trump now.”
Hannity defended the former president.
“I have sat with him for hour after hour after hour, topic after topic after topic, and he is so dialed in,” Hannity said.
Smith looked skeptical as Hannity spoke.
“Really?” Smith said. “Didn’t he cancel the press conferences?”
Trump has canceled a series of high-profile interviews and appearances, including sit-downs with “60 Minutes,” CNBC and NBC News, with one Trump official saying the former president was “exhausted,” according to Politico.
Stephen A. Smith to Hannity: “I know you’re not talking about someone being lucid and cogent and enunciating their thoughts with clarity and you’re bragging about Donald Trump. We can’t be watching the same stuff if that’s what you’re doing!” pic.twitter.com/PY0MfjJTs5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2024
Hannity accused Harris of lying to defend President Joe Biden and covering up signs of cognitive decline, and said her flip-flops on key issues show she is a typical politician who’ll say anything to win an election.
Smith said those arguments don’t work when you’re defending Trump.
“When you bring up issues in terms of character, or in terms of being truthful, or whatever, let me tell you something right now: You can bring a whole bunch of Republicans and I’ll be cool with it,” he said. “You can’t bring up Trump to make a case against somebody else using those arguments.”