ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith rails against '$53 million pilot program for illegals,' predicts Trump victory
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith suggested former President Trump is on the “verge" of defeating President Biden because Democrats have prioritized illegal immigrants over struggling Americans.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith declared former President Trump is on the "verge" of being elected again as the economy flounders and the Biden administration appears to care more about illegal immigrants than struggling Americans.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Trump’s gonna get re-elected. Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States if this kind of stuff that I’m reading continues to happen in American cities, Donald Trump is a shoo-in for re-election, even if he’s a convicted felon," Smith said Tuesday night on his podcast.
Smith said that "someone’s got to say it, so I’m going to say it," before telling listeners about the controversial pilot program to hand out prepaid credit cards to migrant families housed in hotels across New York City, where Smith lives and works.
"What it came down to for me was this. I see homeless folks in the street of New York all the time that are American citizens, I damn sure see them in California. We’ve got poor, impoverished, starving people who are born and raised in this nation," Smith said.
"How in the hell do we come up with a $53 million pilot program for illegals, but folks who are here legally, or born here, we don’t have enough for them? Just like we can come up with billions for Ukraine, but somehow, someway, we can’t fix the homeless problem," Smith continued. "I’m down for helping Israel, I’m down for helping address the situations with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, OK. I’m down for helping the Ukrainians fighting off Russia. What about poor and desolate citizens here?"
While ESPN has made attempts to stay away from politics, the network allows Smith to discuss anything he wants on his personal podcast. He didn’t hold back when addressing the homeless crisis, asking "How the hell do you print money for foreign countries, but you don’t print that money to help eradicate [sic] folks that are starving right here in the streets of America who were born and raised here?"
NEW YORK CITY TO HAND OUT $53 MILLION IN PREPAID CREDIT CARDS TO MIGRANT FAMILIES: REPORT
Smith then listed things that he feels are impacting regular Americans.
"You can’t be on the verge of a recession. Milk don’t need to cost $7, bread don’t need to cost $5. Don’t get me started with how much sugar costs. You can talk about employment all you want to, you can talk about the labor participation rate, but guess what? If you ain’t making no damn money, and you gotta get two jobs to pay the same prices, or to buy the same amount of stuff that you used to buy, and the price is higher than it used to be, because of inflation, then guess what? What are you really accomplishing? That’s why Trump is on the verge of getting elected," Smith said.
"Re-elected, because when he was in office there was a flourishing economy, there was a whole bunch of other problems… and I personally think his return to the presidency is going to be civil war in his country, because he’s gonna be desensitized to bringing anybody together because he’s gonna on a revenge tour to get back at everybody who went against him," he added.
Smith said he couldn't blame rapper 50 Cent for saying Trump could be the "answer" after scolding New York City Mayor Eric Adams for his costly program to financially support migrant families.
Smith added he was "no Republican," noting he'd only voted GOP when he supported Chris Christie for New Jersey governor.
"I voted for Clinton," he said. "I voted for Al Gore. I voted for Barack Obama twice. I voted for Biden despite the crime bill that incarcerated a whole bunch of people in the 90s that looks like me. I shoved all of that aside, because I knew how divisive Trump would be. But, as we sit here now, and we watch something like this transpire, where there seems to be more… attention being paid to folks who are not even here legally, nor are from this country, yet we want to turn around and ignore us Black folks, Latinos, and beyond, who are impoverished and are in need. We know why you're doing it."
Adams has defended the reported $53 million prepaid credit card programs despite public outcry. Appearing before a state legislative budget hearing in Albany on Tuesday, the Democratic mayor said he sought to dismiss "misinformation" about the prepaid credit card program.
"We’re not giving people American Express cards," Adams said.
"We found that the food delivery service that we set up during the emergency — we could find a better way to do it in our belief that we want to cut 20% of the migrant costs. So, we have a pilot project with 500 people that we are giving them food cards, so instead of a debit card, instead of having to deliver food, and have people eat food — we were seeing wasting food — they’re now able to get their own food, that is going to be spent $12 a day."
Smith also said he respects Adams, but blasted the pilot program and suggested he would move out of the city if it weren’t for his daughter.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
