Stephen A. Smith is making it clear that he has zero tolerance for the latest controversy coming out of the White House.
The media mogul used his platform to sound off after a video was shared on Truth Social that used old, racist tropes to depict Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. The clip stayed up for half a day before it was finally pulled, but for Stephen A., the damage was already done and the excuses weren’t cutting it.
On a recent episode of his Straight Shooter show, Smith expressed his absolute disgust with the situation. “I just wanted to address this subject and that’s essentially involving the President Donald Trump posting a video depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. I’m going to say it again, depicting the first Black president in United States history and the first Black first lady in United States history as apes, monkeys. In the year 2026 that has happened,” he told his audience.
When the administration tried to play the video off as a harmless “internet meme” and blamed the post on a staffer’s mistake, Smith went off. He pushed back against the idea that this was just a random error, saying the post had the President’s “fingerprints and stench” all over it. “The White House says it wasn’t the president’s fault even though the video is being removed from the President’s Truth Social account. The guy in the White House using his administration to tell you he had nothing to do with a post that has fingerprints and his smell and stench written all over. That’s who we’re talking about here. And that same man must be universally condemned for having his platform associated with such an insulting, classless, despicable post that was on his platform for 12 hours,” Smith argued.
He didn’t stop at the administration, he also turned his attention to anyone who stays silent on the matter. “Anybody who doesn’t speak against him on this is complicit. You’re telling us what you think about Black people, plain and simple. There’s no way around it. This requires universal condemnation. Doesn’t mean he’s going to leave office but it could mean that we need others in office during the midterms that aren’t necessarily on the right so more checks and balances can take place. And perhaps, dare I say, he’ll be a bit more guarded from doing nonsense like this because again I believe he is guilty of this. Do I have proof? No, but I’ve told y’all on many occasions if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it ain’t a damn mongoose. It is what it is. His behavior, his tendencies, his rhetoric, his petulance, his belligerence all fall in line with what we’re talking about right now. Do you want to be associated with that or not?”
With this happening right in the middle of Black History Month, Smith framed the moment as a major step backward for the country. To him, the incident is a loud reminder that there is still a long way to go when it comes to respect and accountability, and he is forcing his audience to pick a side.
Donald Trump’s actions on social media need to be universally condemned.
Silence on this matter is simply not an option pic.twitter.com/l63YpupoK5
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) February 7, 2026
