ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith ripped the Democrat Party on NewsNation Thursday for their failed use of the court system against former President Donald Trump, suggesting they need a new tactic to beat Trump.
Smith appeared on “Cuomo” to discuss his previous call out of Democrats as Trump’s most recent trial in New York began Monday where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg claims the former president falsified business records when making payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. NewsNation host Chris Cuomo began by asking Smith how he saw the prosecution of Trump as there is a “concern” the former president wouldn’t receive a punishment even if he was found guilty. (RELATED: ‘Scared You Can’t Beat Him’: Stephen A Smith Calls Out Dems For Trump Trial)
“I’m not an advocate of anybody getting away with crimes,” Smith said. “I’m a man about the law. I believe in obeying the law, and if you do the crime, you need to do some time. That’s my mentality. If crime is what is called for as opposed to a civil penalty, or what have you. My issue, Chris, is this: I’m of the mindset that you’re not going to get him. That no matter what level of guilt you can attach to him, it’s not going to equate to jail time.”
“It’s not going to equate to him being removed as the presumptive GOP nominee and the Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States,” he went on. “So why are you continuing to politicize all of this by using courts, using lawfare, as a lot of people call it, to engage in this kind of battle with him to take him down as opposed to prepare yourself as a party to go up against him? I think the argument that’s been made against him with the courts and [where the] politicians are using the courts. Clearly they’re doing that. That argument that’s being made against him, it’s foolhardy because it’s not working.”
“I’ve had Democrats reach out to me to say to me, ‘Shh, be quiet don’t say anything, because you’re a voice Stephen, you resonate with folks. Please don’t tip people off, let us do what we do.’ Well dammit, it ain’t working. You’re losing momentum before our very eyes. He’s winning in six or seven polls last time I checked at least a week ago or so – he’s gained momentum,” Smith continued.
“My point is when you got four indictments, 91 counts, two impeachments, civil suits that you’ve lost in excess of 454 million dollars in terms of the rulings, and everything else, but he still keeps watching forward, marching forward, gaining momentum,” he said. “What are you going to do about it? I, in no way, meant to give any kind of impression that if he did a crime, he shouldn’t pay the price. What I’m saying is you can’t seem to get him. He seems to be Teflon. So the only way to get him is to beat him, and they don’t seem to be able to do that either. I’m quite disgusted by it, to be quite honest with you.”
Earlier this week Smith called out the Democrat party for the merits of Bragg’s case against Trump and expressed his fear that Trump could win. Some have criticized Bragg over his case as the charges for falsifying business records are typically considered misdemeanors. Bragg argued the charges should be upped to felonies, claiming the payments to Daniels were used to allegedly cover up another crime.