Stephen A Smith defends White House dinner with Trump
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith defended his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, stating he would not apologize for the encounter.
Smith appeared on ABC's 'The View' on Oct. 21 to discuss his Oct. 15 trip to the White House. He told co-host Sunny Hostin that he would not apologize for sitting down with the president.
Hostin asked Smith if he thought meeting with Trump was worthwhile given his history of racial bias. Smith replied, 'I don't know. We'll find out, but he’s the president of the United States, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to try.'
Smith met Trump, Maher and Kid Rock for dinner on Oct. 15. He said the group discussed the war in Iran and that he pressed Trump several times on the issue. He also said Maher grilled the president during the meeting.
Smith said he is focused on 'exhausting every means and every measure to try to do what’s in the best interest of our community.' He added that he pushes back on Trump all the time on his SiriusXM show.
Co-host Ana Navarro said there was 'no way in hell' she would meet with the president. She also pressed Smith on whether he pushed back during the dinner.
Smith said he was disappointed that his co-hosts were asking if he pushed back. He argued that they were not watching his SiriusXM show enough to know that he does so regularly.
Kid Rock spoke about the dinner on 'Fox & Friends' on Oct. He said the group had a great conversation and called it 'epic.'
And the thing that was the greatest — there's so many points, I could do an hour on it — is that, you know, two Democrats, two Republicans sit down, break bread, have laughs, talk about, have tough conversations on a lot of the issues.
Kid Rock said the group agreed that socialism and communism have no place in the government. He referred to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed during the interview.
Smith also discussed the political landscape. He predicted that Republicans would maintain the Senate after the midterm elections but lose the House.
He said this would lead to a situation where Democrats would try to impeach Trump, but Republicans would step in to save him. Smith called the impeachment process 'pomp and circumstance' and said it would not stop Trump from serving until at least 2028.
The co-hosts told Smith that they had invited Trump onto 'The View,' but Navarro said she would not meet with him. Smith defended his decision to meet with the president, saying it is his duty to engage with the highest office in the land.
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