Stephen A Smith debriefs interview with President Trump, warns Democrats face steep challenge
ESPN commentator Stephen A.Smith debriefed his White House interview with President Donald Trump during an appearance Thursday on "Hannity" and cautioned Democrats over the influence of the party's far-left flank.Smith said the pair discussed "devastating" GOP midterm losses during a 40-minute, wide-ranging interview and criticized Trump for refusing to take blame, saying he was "immovable" on that point."We talked about the devastating losses in the midterms and how the GOP essentially got slaughtered," Smith told Fox News host Sean Hannity."I asked him, is he willing to point the finger at himself, and he was dogged… he was immovable in that regard," he added.DOUG SCHOEN: THE BIGGEST WINNER AND THE BIGGEST LOSER IN THE 2026 MIDTERMSStephen A.
Smith, sports commentator and TV personality, speaks to reporters after meeting with U.S.President Donald Trump at the White House on November 12, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)Trump repeatedly told Americans during his midterm blitz to vote as if he were on the ballot, but Smith said the commander-in-chief removed himself from that narrative during their Thursday interview."He said, ‘I wasn't on the ballot.’ I said, ‘That makes absolutely no sense, Mr.President.
You said, put you on a ballot.That's what you told the American people to do.’ He said, ‘Well, they didn't do it.’ I said, ‘Well, what if they did do it and that was the reason you lost,’" Smith explained.REPUBLICANS TURN ON TRUMP AFTER DEVASTATING MIDTERM LOSSES HAND DEMOCRATS CONTROL OF CONGRESS"He refused to accept that," he continued.
"His attitude is that the candidates were not that great.If it were him that was running, this would not have happened.
That's his mentality."Smith explained why he doesn’t agree with Trump’s perception of how the midterms played out and argued that the blue wave stems from Americans being dissatisfied with his presidency.President Donald Trump.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)FOX NEWS VO...