Last week, Michelle Obama made the decision to call out ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on her podcast.
ESPN’s $100M man and his 2028 Presidential aspirations must be on the former First Lady’s mind because during the latest episode of the “IMO” podcast, Obama compared Smith to reality TV stars. The eloquent Obama even got a bit more gritty, comparing ESPN’s lineup of debate shows to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
It was one of those, “well this is how the women of my demographic feel” kind of posts, which borderlined on ruthless, according to some opinions
Michelle Obama Compares Stephen A. Smith and ESPN To ‘Real Housewives’ Reality TV
“It’s all a sociological study. They think that sports is better reality TV, I’m like, ‘it’s the same thing.’ If I listen to ESPN for an hour, it’s like watching the ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ you know?” Obama told reporters. “It’s the same drama, and they’re yelling at each other, and they don’t get along, you know?
Then Michelle sort of belittled Stephen A. Smith, a former reporter, who has built himself into a one of the leading voices in the country for any number of subjects. Thus, his modest interest in running for Presidential office. The impact of his words has reached a level where he can actually compete with someone of Michelle Obama’s stature on more than just sports. Maybe she sees him as a threat to the core Democratic values that they believe in so deeply. But she definitely did belittle his career and accomplishments, even if unintentionally.
“I mean, Stephen A. Smith, he’s just like every other,” Obama said. “So that’s why I’m like, ‘what’s the difference?’ It’s just, you know, it’s just sociological drama. I mean, the fact that people over seasons of working still can’t get along. They still have the same arguments, you know, and it’s not just women. But this happens in sports, too. I find it fascinating.”
Naturally, plenty of fans agree with Michelle Obama’s take on the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Fans on one spectrum believe station has become too “woke” (another word for focused on social justice, human rights and issues that tend to affect minorities).
Stephen A. Smith Responds To Michelle Obama Slight
Obviously, Smith was going to clap back at Obama’s wife. It’s what he does, and nobody is safe.
Before Smith stated his counterargument, he brought up an issue he has.
“When you were campaigning on behalf of the former Vice President Kamala Harris … you said a vote for Trump was a vote against you and a vote against y’all as women. I want to say for the record – I took major offense to that. I think to this day is the only thing that I didn’t like that you said, I didn’t appreciate it,” Smith responded on his podcast. “Because there’s so many things that go into deciding where your vote is going to go. For some people, it’s all about the economy. For others, it’s all about national security. For some people, it is immigration. For some people, it’s safety in the streets of America. Long before they think about pro-choice or pro-life.”
Smith then directly addressed the former first lady’s remarks about ESPN being another version of reality TV.
“So this doesn’t have anything to do with what you were talking about, how sports and reality TV mirror one another, even though we would beg to differ. Because a lot of things on reality TV are made-up situations and scenarios to provoke reactions and all of that stuff. We’re at sports, that’s live entertainment, and you’re actually competing against one another is big time. No, reality TV is not like that. You’re so wrong about that, about that assertion, but that’s neither here nor there.”
Smith Accuses Obamas Of Emotional Blackmail Of Voters
Stephen A. Smith accused the Obamas of trying to emotionally “blackmail” voters into voting for Kamala Harris and against Trump by claiming sexism
“I respectfully disagreed and still remain pretty salty about what you said about us…And I feel even more adamant about what your husband Barack Obama said when he talked to those men in Pittsburgh and implied that to not vote for Kamala is because we’re engaging in some sort of misogyny.”
“There are issues that matter to every American citizen…And to sort of blackmail us emotionally into trying to compel us to vote one way or another is part of what won Trump the election…Because that side of the aisle was able to look at the left and say, ‘Look at what they’ll do to win.'”
“That didn’t make y’all clean. It really, really didn’t.”
‘First Take’ Gives Reality Show Vibes
Smith was able to respectfully criticize and challenge Michelle Obama on her podcast rant concerning ESPN, finishing by saying he’d never “utter a negative word” about her. Wise choice for a man who is building up a constituency for a possible run at the Presidency. Michelle Obama is one of the most respected and revered women on earth. Definitely have to tread likely, even if she isn’t totally accurate in her assessment on the sports and entertainment giant.
With all due respect to SAS, it’s easy for a casual or non-sports fan to get the impression of a soap opera and reality show feel if they are just surfing channels and happen to come across SAS in the middle of one of his classic rants about any number of subjects.
