Stephen A. Smith tells ‘The View’ he saw Trump’s win coming ‘a mile away’

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith told the co-hosts of “The View” he was not surprised by the outcome of the 2024 election, saying President-elect Donald Trump’s victory was clear “a mile away.”

“I was surprised at how lopsided it was. I was not surprised by the outcome. I saw the outcome coming from a mile away. You have to take into account, listen, we respect our President Joe Biden, but here’s the reality. He got into office. He promised to be a transitional president, to be a stopgap, to pave the way for somebody else to come on board,” Smith said, noting the Democrats’ success in the 2022 midterms 

Smith continued to describe the Democratic Party’s situation after the president decided to stay in office, which set off a chain of events leading to Kamala Harris replacing him on the ticket and her defeat at the hands of Trump. 

“When he decided to stay, the Democrats were in a quandary because they were expecting him to leave,” he continued. “They’re around him, they’re seeing the fastball has dissipated to some degree, they’re seeing that he’s not what he used to be. And what do you do about it? You grease the skids. There’s no primary for him to experience. You let him go on stage June 27, and clearly he was exposed … And then Kamala Harris is inserted. I don’t blame her one bit, I thought she did a phenomenal job.”

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Smith argued Harris did what she could, but argued that independents weren’t swayed by her because she was the current vice president and did not face a primary competition. 

“You have folks that are independent – I’m not talking about those on the right or the left, just independents who say, wait a minute, she didn’t experience a primary either. The last time we saw her in a primary was four years ago, and she didn’t even make it to Iowa. They used that as an excuse to point to her level of inexperience. You’ve got the war in Russia, Ukraine, you’ve got the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamas and Hezbollah and all of that stuff,” he said, before pointing to Trump’s criticisms of Harris. 

Smith also recently took aim at Harris’ celebrity endorsements.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks conceding the 2024 U.S. presidential election to President-elect Donald Trump at Howard University in Washington on November 6, 2024.  (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

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“In the end, celebrities, who are worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, who most American citizens feel are incredibly detached from their way of life and their quality of life, were not going to get away and guilt them into doing something different than what their experience says is going on and what they should do about it,” Smith said on a recent episode of his show.

He then played a clip of Oprah Winfrey saying a victory for Trump could mean they would never vote again.

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“This is the kind of stuff that alienates an electorate, alienates a voter,” Smith said. “Because the freedom that you tell them you have, you try to confiscate morally by letting them know, you ain’t worth a damn unless you vote the way we say you should vote. Who’s going to go for that in a general election? With an economy rife with inflation, with over 12 million people crossing the border… the value of their dollars dissipating before our very eyes.”