Stephen A. Smith says Donald Trump could not have been more complimentary toward him during their White House dinner Thursday night, months after Trump called him a low IQ individual who was “dumb as a rock.”
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Stephen A. addressed the dinner Friday on his YouTube show, “Straight Shooter,” after news spread that he sat down with Trump, Bill Maher, and Kid Rock on Oct. 15. “With the cameras off behind the scenes, he could not have been more hospitable. He could not have been nicer. He could not have been more complimentary even towards somebody whose aptitude he just questioned weeks ago,” he said.
He made it clear he has no regrets about pulling up. Stephen A. said refusing to sit down and have a conversation with Trump would be “foolish” and “childish,” adding, “I’m not going to do that.” He also revealed that Trump invited him back to the White House, along with Maher.
According to Stephen A. Smith, the table went at it for hours over the issues they disagreed on, and he gave Trump and Maher credit for that. He said Maher made it clear to Trump, “[Expletive] right, I’m a liberal. I’m proud of it,” before running down a list of Trump policies he doesn’t like. Then, Stephen A. said, Maher told Trump that disagreeing didn’t mean they had to hate each other. Stephen A. said he agreed.
That is a long way from where these two were in June. Trump showed up to Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, and that morning on “First Take,” Stephen A. Smith said Trump’s presence would be an inconvenience for real Knicks fans and that he would blame Trump if the Knicks lost. The Knicks lost to the Spurs, 115 to 111.
After the game, Trump told Fox News Digital and OutKick that Stephen A. seemed like a nice guy, but “you need a high IQ, and I’m not sure Stephen has that.” Stephen A. fired back on “First Take” that he could put his IQ up against Trump’s any day of the week, and reminded everybody that a year earlier Trump had said at a town hall that he would love to see him run for president.
Then Trump took it to Truth Social. “Stephen A. Smith is an arrogant fool, a low IQ individual. In other words, he’s ‘dumb as a rock,’ and totally unqualified to ever think of running for high political office, or even low political office, for that matter!” he wrote. He added that Stephen A. would get annihilated in a debate by the most incompetent of politicians and called him a “loudmouth huckster.”
Stephen A. later went on CNN’s “State of the Union” and dared Trump to debate him personally. “Why don’t you do it yourself? Why defer to anybody else?” he said.
Stephen A. wanted a debate. He got a dinner invitation instead, and he took it.
Kid Rock was the first to spill details, revealing the dinner Friday morning on “Fox & Friends” and calling the night epic. He said everyone at the table agreed that socialism and communism have no place in the government, and that the conversation also touched on the war in Iran, with Maher bringing up the Afghan interpreters who helped American troops.
Kid Rock said Stephen A. Smith pressed Trump on unemployment among Black women and funding for HBCUs, and even gave him credit for pushing back. He recalled Stephen A. saying, “with Trump putting a dagger through the heart of DEI, it seems like it’s kind of scared off a lot of the corporate money coming to HBCUs.” DEI refers to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, which many corporations have pulled back on under pressure from the Trump administration. Kid Rock said the group reminded Stephen A. that Trump had put $174 million toward historically Black colleges and universities.
Trump was all smiles about it Friday. “It was a great dinner, it was a very informative dinner,” he told reporters, adding, “Stephen A. is great.” He also claimed his guests “have to sort of put on a certain facade for their people,” but that deep down “they like Trump.” Trump said the night lasted a long time and ended with a tour of the White House ballroom that is still under construction.
Maher has ridden this same roller coaster. Kid Rock set up his first White House dinner with Trump in March 2025, and by this February Trump was on Truth Social calling the visit “a total waste of time” and Maher a “jerk.” Now Maher is back at the table too.
Fans are not letting Stephen A. Smith off easy. Social media lit up once the dinner went public, with one fan writing, “This man called you a low IQ individual and you still went to have dinner with him.”
Stephen A. has repeatedly floated running for president in 2028, and the man who once called him too low IQ to hold any office has now invited him back to the White House.
