ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith criticized former President Joe Biden on Tuesday following his first post-presidency speech, calling it a “waste of time” and suggesting Democrats also questioned the point of it.
Biden’s speech addressed the importance of social security and included attacks on President Donald Trump’s administration’s policies as well as advocacy for national unity. During an appearance on NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” host Chris Cuomo asked Smith for his opinion on Biden’s remarks, with the ESPN host saying he barely watched it and condemning the former president’s record.
“Waste of time. Fell on deaf ears. I watched about five minutes of it. I didn’t really have much interest in it. Because he’s no longer the president,” Smith said. “When he was the president, there were some things that he did, like opening the borders, which were horrendous and obviously debilitating to this nation. And because of it, that accentuated the point that he needed to go and once he saw that, the man that once promised to be a transitional president, decided that he wanted to stay and ultimately had to be forced out.”
“And so, when those kind of things happen, clearly, a lot of what you have to say is falling on deaf ears, particularly when all you’re doing this regurgitating things that you said in the past, not just when you were president, but when you were a candidate for the presidency before you ultimately won the election in 2020,” he continued. “It’s not to say that he’s completely right or wrong. It’s to simply say, unfortunately, because of the things that have transpired over the last several years, a lot of people weren’t too interested in hearing from him.”
Smith also argued that Democrats did not seem pleased by Biden emerging to deliver a speech.
“There were a plethora of them asking the question: ‘Why, for what? What possible purpose did it serve?’ And certainly they’re asking themselves now after seeing him speak,” he said.
For instance, CNN host Jessica Dean asked Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna on Tuesday ahead of Biden’s speech whether he believed it would be “helpful” for his party. Khanna did not appear enthusiastic.
“Well, he’s a former president. He certainly can speak,” Khanna said. “And hopefully he’ll speak out for due process of the law.”
Biden’s speech took place in Chicago and addressed the National Conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled.
Trump has consistently vowed to not cut Social Security. He even pushed the Republican Party in January 2023 to not “cut a single penny” from the program.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
