Sports commentator and media personality Stephen A. Smith clashed sharply with Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., during a Thursday episode of Smith’s Straight Shooter podcast, disputing the congressman’s suggestion that gender played a decisive role in former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to President Donald Trump.
The exchange began as Clyburn criticized Trump’s rhetoric, describing him as someone who “looks for opportunities to insult Black women day in and day out.” Smith pushed back, arguing that Trump’s insults are not limited to any one group. “To me, he insults everybody,” Smith said.
Clyburn countered that such behavior should have disqualified Trump in the eyes of voters. When Smith noted that millions of Americans voted for Trump regardless, Clyburn argued that voters often confuse loud, boisterous behavior with leadership. Smith challenged that framing, suggesting instead that dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party itself may have driven voter choices.
Smith argued that many voters perceived a shift within the Democratic Party away from its traditional base and toward positions they viewed as too far left. According to Smith, some voters ultimately chose what they considered “the best of two evils,” rather than voting based on race or gender.
Clyburn responded by raising the possibility that bias played a role, saying voters may not have been able to “get beyond gender,” noting that the Democratic nominee was a Black, Asian American woman. That prompted Smith’s most forceful rebuttal.
“I emphatically disagree,” Smith said, stressing that he would not make such an argument behind Clyburn’s back. Smith pointed to Hillary Clinton’s nearly three-million-vote popular vote win in 2016, Harris’ roughly 75 million votes, and the success of female Democratic leaders nationwide, including governors and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Smith also argued that if the country were fundamentally unwilling to elect a woman president, Harris would not have been elevated as President Joe Biden’s successor with just 107 days left in the campaign. “I think we’re very ready as a country to elect a woman,” Smith said, adding that women have shown themselves to be “smarter, more composed, more disciplined” leaders than men.
The exchange highlighted ongoing Democratic debates over whether electoral losses stem from prejudice, policy direction, or broader voter dissatisfaction.
