ESPN's Stephen A. Smith threw criticism toward liberal critics of former President Donald Trump amidst his alleged "hush money" trial in New York City.
Smith noted Trump faced 34 felony charges ranging from falsifying business records to concealing an alleged $130,000 "hush money" payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential run. The ESPN host said he wasn't absolving Trump from responsibility, though said the entire case was a "disaster."
"You want Trump gone, beat him. Period," Smith said, noting issues with the nation's abortion debate and struggling economy. "Do you know what kind of position you're putting yourself in if you're the Democrats?"
The ESPN host went on to discuss foreign conflict between European countries along with the United States' border crisis.
"Is it possible it could be perceived that you are going after Trump using lawfare because you can’t beat him. Because you know the issues don’t favor you?” Smith asked, noting that was an argument Trump would make.
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Smith said Trump's case was absurd because it involved paying off an adult film actress regarding Trump's 2016 election.
"So, let me get this straight. The 45th President of the United States, who's no longer the President of the United States at this particular moment, is in a court room today eight years after he was originally elected because he facilitated hush money to a porn star," Smith continued. "So, in other words, I screwed around with a porn star and I didn't want anybody to know."
The ESPN host then referenced several Democratic politicians, including the late former presidential candidate Gary Hart, who dropped out of his race in 1988 over accusations of an extramarital affair.
"Y’all remember Bill Clinton?" he continued. "Lying under oath. Remember that? No sexual relations?"
Smith then referenced former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards who allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a campaign staffer.
"You really, really, really gonna push this where a state like New York has a former president in a courtroom because he paid $130,000 to an intermediary, who happened to be his lawyer Michael Cohen, to keep a porn star's mouth shut about the fact that they got loose with each other," Smith said in reference to Trump's former attorney at the time of the alleged incident. "Because he didn't want that to taint his campaign."
Smith reiterated Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and recounted an acquaintance of the ESPN host had denounced Clinton's affair, citing the "sanctity" of the Oval Office.
"Wasn't John F. Kennedy in that office? Wasn't Marilyn Monroe alive then?" Smith said of the former Democratic president's affair with the actress. "Jackie Kennedy was a good-looking woman. They just went upstairs. They never did anything in the Oval Office."
The ESPN host said Clinton's attempt to downplay his affair with Lewinsky was an effort to keep his relationship a secret from former First Lady Hillary.
"Every married man I know that has transgressed is significantly more concerned about the wrath from their woman than they are about public opinion," Smith said.
“To my liberal friends out there, all you’re doing is showing that you’re scared you can’t beat him on the issues and the merits,” Smith added. “Everything you do shows me you can’t beat him. It’s a damn shame. It really, really is. It’s embarrassing."
