An interview with Charlemagne Tha God: Politics…and the Black Community

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the special edition of The
Stephen A. Smith Show. I know I'm usually coming at
you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday over.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
The digital airways of YouTube, but.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Special times call for special occasions, and this is one
of them. My guest coming up is none other than
the one and only Charlemagne to God, and I could
not wait to have a conversation with him because there's
so many things that are going on in the world. Yes,
we know that there's an election coming up in eight months,
Yes we know that. Unfortunately we're stuck with two candidates,

(00:40):
one Charalamagna God labeled uninspiring, the other he labeled a
threat to democracy. We know all of that. We'll get
into that, we'll talk about why that is.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
But the real reason I wanted him to come.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
On this show is because we needed to have a
real conversation about the black community. When we're talking about politics,
social life issues and beyond, we're always talking about keeping
it real, right, We're always clamoring for real conversation, real talk,
real issues being addressed.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Well, your wish is my command. Charlamagne and God up next.
I can't wait. You know what I don't think you
can't either backward more in a minute. Okay, everybody, you

(01:32):
know what time it is. It's tom for stephen A's
Weekly Picks. Now everyone knows I live and breathe sports
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Speaker 1 (01:43):
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Speaker 2 (02:26):
Either way it goes. You know it's easy. Right now,
Let's look at my picks for today.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Okay, og Anna Noby more or less than eighteen and
I have points, rebounds, assist.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Ladies and gentlemen. He's going against Portland. I think I'll
go with more.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
There are blazers, Okay, they damn sure ain't no trailblazers.
We'll call them the blazers. I'm going with more Oganna Noby.
Love seeing him back with the New York. NeXT's go
to the number two.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Please give me Josh Hart more or less than twenty
six and.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
A half points, rebounds, assist or more.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Hmmm. He's a rough rider.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Gonna get his points, Gonna get about twelve thirteen points,
maybe fifteen points, five rebounds whatever. I'm gonna go with more. Again,
it's going against Portland. I look at the New York Knicks.
How they can amp up things defensively, how they create
additional opportunities for themselves on their offensive.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Side of the ball. That has something to do with.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Points, assist and rebounds. Is on both of the odds, whether
it's offensive rebounds or defensive rebounds.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
So I'm gonna go with more for that one.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Next up, Dante DiVincenzo more or less than twenty four
and a half points, rebounds and assist. Again, have you
seen him shooting the ball. Have you seen the way
he's been playing off of Jaylen Brunton. We're going to
go with more. Okay, this is what they do, Tom Thim.
It ain't gonna use this bench for so much. These
brothers go get the minutes. They gonna log the minutes,
they gonna lodge the production. That's just the way that

(03:55):
it goes. And last, but not least, the one and
only Jalen Bruntson more or less than thirty six and
a half points rebounds assists.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well, first of all, that's an easy one.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
It's definitely gonna be more because he's probably gonna have
thirty in this game.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Thirty points.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
We don't even count rebounds and assists, So we're definitely gonna.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Go with more of this.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
So on all Florida Ogianna, No b Josh Hard, Dante Devintenzo,
Jylen Brunson. I'm telling you to go with more competition
matters or lack of a lack thereof listening to your boy.
When I talk to you New York Dicks, They're gonna
be more and more and more tonight.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Mark my words.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Oh, I've been waiting to talk to this brother right
here for a variety of reasons, obviously in the aftermath
of the State of the Union addressed by President Biden,
along with a host of other things that have been
going on inside and outside the world of politics, and
especially inside and outside the black community.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Who better to talk to than.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
My man, co host the Breakfast Club, start a breakfast Sclub,
an author, by the way, a best selling author, along
with a bevy of other things that you've been doing.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
The one and only Charlamagne of God. What's going to Smith? Brother?

Speaker 4 (05:08):
It's good to see you, man. How's everything going. I'm
blessed black and holly feelings. You made me want to
lose some weight.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Man?

Speaker 4 (05:12):
What it made me want to get in shape? I mean,
I'm in shape, but I gotta slim down.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
I had to listen. Don't use me as the example.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
I was a nasty, disgusted, skinny fat at two hundred
and eight pounds. Okay, so losing all of that fat
that's all I did. And don't don't ever find yourself
in a position that I was in because it was bad.
So I'm at one seventy wow, thirty lott thirty eight pounced.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
I feel bad. I feel great. It's good on you, brother.
What about you? What's been going on with you? My man?
How has life been treating you? Life has been great?
I mean I have no complaints. Man.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Kids are great, wife is great. You know, professionally, everything
is fantastic.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
You know. Mentally and emotionally, I'm where I need to be.
So that's all you can ask for before I.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Get into a bunch of serious topics. You know what's
on my mind right. I was doing my research, just
reading up on you and know I've known you for years,
got a lot of respect and love for you.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
But uh, your dad.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Isn't true that your dad had a tattoo right as
a Cowboys fan and he was celebrated. How they you know,
six time champions that's what the tattoo said, but they
only got five championship?

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Is that drug? That is a fact.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
He got it right after he got it right after
we won the Cowboys won their fifth championship, and he
got the tattoo that said six times Super Bowl champion.
On his arm, and it's been sitting there since nineteen
ninety six.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Now, why hasn't he gotten rid of it? I mean,
what's he holding on for? That?

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Trying to win again? He trying to make sure they
do it again, because been twenty nine years. It's been
twenty nine year.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
You want to get number six? My daddy is a
diehard cowboy fan. Like his nickname is cowboy.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Like.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
He talks about you like he knows you, like he
oh my god, like you make him angry.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
He watches Teles because he knows I'm laughing.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Oh my god, I'm laughing at me. Yes, well, why
don't you get mad at me? Because you are cowboy fans?
We ain't letting you off the hook. You love the cowboys?
How come you don't get mad at me about it?

Speaker 2 (06:53):
I mean, listen, I don't get mad.

Speaker 4 (06:54):
I don't get mad if somebody says something that's true, right,
and then somebody gives an opinion that becomes true right?

Speaker 2 (07:00):
What am I doing? Exact?

Speaker 1 (07:01):
He was right exactly, And I've been right for twenty
nine years and counting. I mean, let's not forget that,
twenty nine years and counting.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
But guess what what next year, We're gona win the
super Bowl. Next year, We're gonna win the super Bowl. Baby,
you say that, saying it for twenty nine years, Why
would I stop? Now you're gonna keep. You're gonna keep
you that gonna be right?

Speaker 2 (07:19):
How has things been? How have things been for you?

Speaker 1 (07:22):
When you think about you hosting the co hosting the
Breakfast level of a man DJ and you who I've
known for years obviously, and Jess hilarious, she's been absolutely phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Major props to her.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
What has it been like for you in recent in
recent history hosting the Breakfast Club considering the.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Level of cachet that y'all have built for y'allselves.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
And how politicians, aspiring politicians and others come through y'all
through y'all show to make sure they're validated to some degree,
what has that been like for me?

Speaker 4 (07:50):
For me, I don't treat it any different than I
treat talking to anybody man, because you know, I feel
like you know, I've always said, the Breakfast Club is
the people show, right, So you know, the people who
listen and every day, the eight million monthly listeners that
we have who tune in, who call in every day,
I always feel like I'm speaking on behalf of them,
and so for me, I just always keep that in
the back of my mind, and I don't change my

(08:11):
level of curiosity regardless of how big this show has gotten.
I've never felt like I'm an expert anything. I'm just
a person who has some experiences, and I keep a
level of curiosity in regard to sitting down and having
conversations with Guess. But that's how I approach it, even
with political interviews.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
But is it just about curiosity or is it about
this insatiable need to hold folks accountable, particularly when we're
talking about the world of politics, because these are people
that you put forth legislation and have dominion to some
degree over the quality of life that a lot of
us experience. What has that been like for you in
terms of talking to them. Is it about accountability or

(08:48):
is it just about being curious?

Speaker 4 (08:49):
It's always about accountability for me, regardless of who I'm
speaking to, Like I feel like I held rappers accountable
or athletes like whatever somebody got going on in that moment.
If it's something that they need to be held accountable about,
I'll do it, just like people hold me accountable about things.
So it's the same thing with politicians. Like, actually, the
exact same formula I have in regards to having conversations

(09:10):
with politicians is the exact same formula I have in
regard to having conversations with other people, because I used
to be young, you know, watching TV or listening to
the radio and asking myself like, why aren't they asking
the most obvious question, like like, we see this person
sitting there with a horn sticking out their head, but
nobody's gonna say anything about the horn.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
So it's the same thing when I'm talking to politicians.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
Sometimes it's the most obvious questions that people are asking.
And it's all about to follow up with politicians, right,
because when you ask a politician a question, their first
answer is the prepared messaging that they have from their handlers. Right,
So the very next question should either be a double
down or what you just asked are simple why. I remember,

(09:51):
you know Larry King, God blessed that Larry King told
me a long time ago. He said, the most important
question you can ask in an interview is why. And
I feel like in regards to politicians, that is such
a very important question because they'll spit all of this
jogging at you, all of this verbal jog and all
of these prepared messaging, and then as soon as you
say why, that's when you start to.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
See them stumble and fumble because they're like, oh, I.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
Didn't I didn't.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
Know there'll be a why.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
I just thought I could just lay it. I thought
I could feel a buster you and it would be
on to the next question.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
I sit up there and I look at it, and
doing television as long as I've been doing it, and
being a journalist for as long as I've been a journalist,
you find yourself as a black man, I know I
do where you feel the pressure from the community, and
I don't necessarily embrace it.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
From this perspective, I.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Don't feel any obligation to feel what other people think
I should feel, absolutely, but I do feel an obligation
to make sure that I articulate what a community is feeling,
whether it's Black, Hispanic, or riyond. Whatever your community is feeling,
make sure you ask questions pertinent to that audience.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
I think I owe them that, what about you, same
same exact thing? Like you know I can.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Black people aren't monolithic, so I could never speak for
a whole community of people. But you know, I have
no problem you know, crowdsourcing questions, right, Like what do
you want me to ask said individual? Because I can
ask a question that I may not necessarily have any
feeling about, but I will ask because I know there's
a large majority of people who who want that question answered.

(11:21):
So yeah, I feel the need to ask questions for
the people. But you know, you can never speak for
a group of people because everybody in that group of
people wants different things. But I think, for you know,
the most part, just humans in America, regardless of race.
Anytime we have in these conversations with politicians.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
We want up and mobility, right, and we want safety.
That's it.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
People want some money in their pocket and they want
to feel secure every day that they wake up in
this country. So I think a lot of times, you know,
we complicate these conversations about what it is black people
want or what it is this group of people want.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Everybody in America wants the same thing. But when you
say we implicated, who's the way? I think?

Speaker 4 (12:04):
I think sometimes just people when they talk about these issues,
because I think sometimes a lot of people come from
a place of privilege, so It's like we can sit
up here and have certain conversations about, you know, things
that are going on in politics, and we can talk
about geopolitical issues, or we can talk about the border issues.
A lot of those those conversations come from a place
of privilege. If you're living in you know, Monks Corner,

(12:26):
South Carolina, or the rural area down south like where
I'm from. Are you living in the inner city like
New of New Jersey, a Chicago. If you can't keep
no food on the table, a roof over your head,
you don't care about.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
What's going on in other countries.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
All you care about is why they keep sending money
all over to those other countries. And we basically we
don't have our basic necessities met here.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
You know, That's one of the things I brought up
because listen, I'm far from a political officient not or
make no mistake about it. But you know, you read
the newspaper, you watch television, you try to stay up
on current events to the best of your ability. Even
though I'm inundated by the world of sports and what
have you. But I'm looking at stuff, the kind of
stuff that's going on. We've got an election that's coming up.
We got an eighty one year that's gonna be eighty
two in November. We've got a guy that's gonna be

(13:05):
seventy seventy years of age, and he's got ninety one
He got four counts against four indictments against them, ninety
one counts. And these are the two choices that we
have for president. And I couldn't wait to talk to
you about the subject, because anytime any of us open
our mouth, if folks disagree with us, we don't know
what the hell we're talking about. It's not that they
disagree with us. You don't know what the hell you
talk about because you don't agree with them. And even

(13:27):
though people are gonna say that when it comes to
political issues, it seems to be something that resonates far, far,
much deeper when it comes to us. Do you get
that impression at all?

Speaker 2 (13:36):
Absolutely? Then why is that?

Speaker 4 (13:39):
I think because a lot of those political pundits, you know,
a lot of those political talking heads, those academics, they
don't feel like we're qualified to have these conversations, even
though both of us paid millions of dollars in taxes
about that, you know what I'm saying, And both of
us come from those hoods that a lot of them
are far removed from. You know, I don't speak for

(13:59):
what's going on on the hill. I speak for what's
going on in the hood, you know, And and I
think a lot of times, when you've been on the
hill too long, you know, you don't even realize what
is going on with regular, everyday working class people. Which
is why I love doing radio, because I get to
talk to those everyday working class people every.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Morning and see see what's on their mind. What's it
been like for you over the last several weeks.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
I saw you doing you know, I text you immediately
after watching you. You on this Week and you were
being interviewed about your position about President Biden, and where
you basically talked about both candidates. One is uninspiring and
the other is obviously a threat to democracy there at
least people that's what That's what they were talking about,
you know, attaching to you or what have you. What
was it like for you being on that platform? Seeing

(14:42):
yourself on a Sunday Morning's one thing to be on
the radio on weekday mornings.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
You've been interviewed a thousand times over the year at
Jones showing you got Jones Show and comedy sent you.
You've written books, You've done all of this stuff. But
what was it like seeing yourself talking on a Sunday
morning on a political show?

Speaker 2 (14:58):
What was that like for you?

Speaker 4 (14:59):
That's that's a different audience. That's the audience that you know,
that's when my mama get phone calls, you know, that's
when they call it my MoMA and be like, oh,
I saw you, you know, I.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
Saw your son on you know, on ABC.

Speaker 4 (15:10):
That's that's a different level of conversation. But I mean, honestly,
it's the same. It's a bigger platform that enabled people
to misconstrue the things that I say even more because
you know what I like to say all of the
time is that you know, the right right wing media
does a fantastic job of pushing the narrative they want
to push. Left wing media does a terrible job of

(15:31):
pushing the narrative they want to push. Because what you
just said is absolutely what I said. Donald Trump is
a threat to democracy. But Joe Biden is an uninspiring
candidate with no main character energy.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
Fox will take that right.

Speaker 4 (15:42):
Wing He's an uninspiring candidate, you know, with no main
character energy, and they'll amplify that, and they'll talk about
that all day, all day, all day. And then the
CNN and the msnbcs of the world, in the left
wing media, they'll talk about what Fox News is talking
about instead of why don't you take what I said
about Trump being a threat to democracy and amplifying that
for your audience. So you know, like I said, it

(16:05):
just a platform like that is just it just gives people.
It's just a bigger opportunity for people to missgage.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
True, it's a conversation I'm having with you right now,
Charlamagde really is about us. It's about the black community
because I definitely wanted some help in terms of talking
to somebody else, not just talking to myself, not just
talking to my audience, but talking to somebody who talks
to an audience every single day and millions of people
every single day. When you look at us right now,
the black community and what we have to deal with

(16:31):
in terms of our choices, the threat to democracy or
the unaspiring candidate, how should we feel about this upcoming election?
And I'm not talking about it just in terms of
the candidates. I'm talking about what you and I both fare,
which is going to be a willingness for people to
go to the polls and droves the way that they
once were willing to do obviously when Barack Obama was president.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
Well, you know, this year is all about the Republicans
who are the crooks, the Democrats who are the cowards
because they don't fight enough in the couch.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
The couch is voter apathy.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
And you know, in November, it feels like the couch
is going to win.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
And you know, when it comes to.

Speaker 4 (17:07):
The black people, like I said, I can't speak for
all black people because we're not monolithics. But this isn't
just about Joe Biden and Donald Trump. This is years
and years and years of neglect from government. You know,
I feel like black people fall into a category that
my man Tim Ryan always brings up. Well, he coined
the phrase the exhausted majority. I think there's just a
bunch of people in America and a lot of Black

(17:29):
people fall into that category. We just tied were just
tired of politics.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's not the rematch we want.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
You know, we've been promised change that we can believe
in since you know, President Obama ran for president and
people haven't seen that change. You know, the hood has
not changed in any way, shape or form. And you
can't scare people into voting, even though this is probably
the first time in my lifetime that they have, you know,

(17:55):
used the same rhetoric that they've been using. All this
person is a threat to democracy is absolutely.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
True, and I've seen it.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
But that's what kisses me off, because they've been blowing
into the win for so long that when you finally
articulate a position that appears to be very accurate, it
falls on death is because it's the same stuff we've
been here in for decades. And I think that that
plays a role into why somebody like a Trump can
be in this position right now. And I'm wondering, listen,
I'm not voting for him, I tell you that much

(18:22):
right now.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
I'm not vote for him. But it's not because of
his politics.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
It's because of his behavior, the kind of person I
think he is, and the kind and I believe that
he could potentially cause civil war in this country. There
are people who feel that I'm ridiculous when I say that,
What do you feel about that?

Speaker 4 (18:40):
No, I one hundred percent agree. I mean we're looking
at a Republican party who's been overtaken by fascism, and
it's not even close. Like, this guy already tried to
lead in the tempted coup of this country on January sixth,
twenty twenty one. This isn't hyperbole when we say these things.
He's done these things already. Like this is a man
who said we should over we should over would turn

(19:00):
the Constitution, I mean, we should get rid of the
Constitution to overthrow the results of an election. This is
a man whose lawyers were in court saying, well, he
never you know, he never promised to support the Constitution.
I don't care if what color you are, what your
sexuality is, what your genda is, if you call yourself
an American, you cannot want somebody to lead this country
who doesn't believe in the Constitution.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
So what does it say to you that there are
people in this country who do apparently want that particular individual,
knowing those specific positions, back in that seat, back in
that White House come twenty twenty four. What does it
say to you about the state of our country that
you have people who have no problem with seeing him
right back where.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
He once was.

Speaker 4 (19:39):
Well they've accepted fascism. And those are the people who
I feel like they want they want their rights to
be racist back, you know what I mean, They like
they want their they want white supremacy to reign supreme
over this nation. Like that's what if people can say
whatever they want, that's what this country was founded on.
Like when those founding fathers father sat down at their table,

(20:00):
they were talking about you know, liberty and freedom and
Joseph Faull, they weren't talking about people that looked like us.
In fact, actually said we were three fifths of a
human So they definitely weren't looking at people who looked
like us.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
Are thought of thinking.

Speaker 4 (20:11):
About people who looked like us when they created that.
So to me, those are just people who want white supremacy,
you know, to be at the top.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
We're playing a role of Devil's advocate. You have folks white,
that's that's there. You go, no problem. You do hear
folks on the right saying, wait a minute, we're sick
and tied of that our word being attached to us.
The Democrats were once Dixie krats. You had a situation
where civil rights legislation in sixty four voting rights legislation
in sixty five, Lyndon B. Johnson sitting up there talking about,

(20:39):
we'll have the Negro vote locked up for the next
fifty years. We do this, but Republicans assisting bipartisan wise
in terms of Republicans and Democrats both assisting and bringing
that kind of legislation to the desk of the presidency.
And they say to themselves, they forget what role we played.
It was the Democrats that were more racist than you
could ever say.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
About us, That's what they say.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
What does Charlomae and to God say when people have
thrown that argument in your face? Because I know, for
I've seen Larry Elder on your show along with various others.
I see if the vect Ramaswami on your show along
with others, and I know people allude to that. What's
your argument when people throw that back at you.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
I think it's kind of a ridiculous talking point, because
even though it's true, we're acting like the ideology of
a whole party didn't change, the ideology of a party
change because the base of a party change. Yes, when
you know the Civil Rights Act was implemented, you know,
and like that made a lot of black people vote Democrat.
They voted for John F. Kennedy, then you know they

(21:35):
supported Linda B.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Johnson.

Speaker 4 (21:37):
So yeah, we're acting like a whole party's mindset didn't
completely shift.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
It did, which is why I was even.

Speaker 4 (21:46):
Saying, you know, the Republicans are the party of the
Confederate Confederacy, so I don't know how far you can
take them away from that. But I always felt like
this year was their year to put somebody else in
position other than a Donald Trump, and people are longing
for something so different, Like I would saying they should
have got behind Nicki Heley because people were longing for
something so different. I feel like she might could have

(22:09):
picked up, you know, votes from both sides.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Of the hours.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Well that's why I disagree with you, okay, I disagree
with you that with that, because we all know what
politicians are about there, about maintaining power and remaining in office.
And if you have a candidate that seems to have
the constituency body, you know what, no one's going anywhere,
no matter what you do to him, no matter what
you say to him, I mean more. Campaign dollars was

(22:31):
being raised as the indictments flowed in. This is how
bad it was. And so if you see that Nicki
Haley has no shot, that Ramaswami has no shot, that
Chris Christy had no shot, that DeSantis didn't having a
shot at all, of what have you. And you know
that's the way the momentum is flowing and you're trying
to survive, and this candidate is the kind of dude
that'll call you out and it'll turn your own peeps

(22:53):
against you. Nobody does that better than Donald Trump. So
if you know that you might be making decisions based
strictly out of fear for survival.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
I agree with that.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
But I don't know if Donald Trump can win in
a general election. But I also don't know if Joe
Biden can win in the general election. But I think
that you know, somebody like a somebody like a Nicki
Hally or anybody fresh I think would have a much
much better shot in a general election than a Donald
Trump is. I think Donald Trump and Biden is a
toss up, and it's literally about which one of them

(23:23):
can energize those people to get off the couch, or
which one of them can go out there and capture
those people who in the Republican primaries was voting for
a Nicki Haley, you know, and I think whoever can
do that is we're going to see who's gonna win November.
And the other things people aren't factoring in coming November is
voter suppression. There's going to be voter suppression that happens, right,
And the only defense Democrats ever have against voter suppression

(23:43):
is we got.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
To have the largest voter turnout in the history of America.
I don't think they get that in twenty and twenty four.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
So if it's close, you know what Republicans do, they
gonna steal it.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
So that's just a fact. So I don't know.

Speaker 4 (23:55):
I just felt like, you know, Nicki Haley or anybody
else you know, probably gave them a better shot than
Trump would. I think with Trump is fifty to fifty,
with Biden's fifty fifty.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
I'm not sure how.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
I'm really not sure how Trump fairs in the general election.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
When you look at it, the audience that's out there
right now, you think about what you just said as
we look at the Democratic Party. First things first, you're
a Republican Democrat and an independent.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
What are you?

Speaker 4 (24:23):
I'm registered as a Democrat. I consider myself an independent
because I don't know why. Honestly, as a black person
in America, I don't know why we're beholding in any
of these parties. I'm like, when I see these crazy
black maga conservative lunatics, I don't know why they like that.
And when I see these black liberal ready to cut
your head off over Joe Biden, I don't know why
they like that either. As a black person in this country,

(24:43):
you shouldn't beholden to any party whatsoil. I don't think
so either, because I don't think either party has done
enough for us. That's totally where I'm at with it.
But having said all of that, one of the things
that I've.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Received a lot of criticism for is that I've called
out the Democratic Party more so than ever before, because
I think it's an absolute embarrassment and grace that in
the year twenty twenty four you the Liberal Party. And
I know some Democrats don't call themselves progressives, but when
we hear progressive, we associate that with.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
The Democratic Party. That's just the fact. So when you
look at it.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
From that perspective, I'm sitting there and saying, how in
God's name, in the year twenty twenty four. Do we
find ourselves as a Democratic party begging an eighty one
year old who turns eighty two in November to run
for re election for four more years? To me, of

(25:30):
all the inexcusable things I've seen Democrats do over the
last several decades, this might be the worst because you
couldn't find anybody that's.

Speaker 2 (25:38):
What I say. What do you say?

Speaker 4 (25:40):
I agree with you one hundred percent, And I think
that when people give us a flack for pointing that out,
you know, criticizing President Biden, I would have to tell
them to shut the f up forever. And the reason
I have to say that is because if you're telling
me that there is a threat to democracy on the
other side of the ticket, like somebody that is, you're

(26:02):
you're seeing them script back all of these different rights.
They implemented Supreme Court judges that are stripping away all
of these different rights from us. We saw him lead
and the insurrection, leading, an attempted to cool this country.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
We saw all of that.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
If we if we're not one hundred percent sure that
the person on the other side can win, or we
don't feel like they're doing enough to win, we don't
see the sense of urgency coming from them.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Why shouldn't we press them on that?

Speaker 4 (26:27):
Like you can look at it from at sports right
if you if you I can love my Dallas Cowboys,
but if Dak Prescott in producing and there might be
somebody else that can go out go out there and
win us some games, I want that person.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
I'm not sure that's the strongest argument that you can
make them this particular day, because you started off the
show talking about how we goin to the Super Bowl
next year.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
I mean, I'm not I'm just saying. I'm just saying,
Charlae Man, I mean, I don't know if this is
this is not the time, this is not the subject,
will take that out.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
I'm just saying, if you got a stronger player, if
there's a potential stronger player that can that can win
and put them on, did you.

Speaker 2 (27:01):
See a stronger player in the Democratic Party?

Speaker 4 (27:04):
I didn't this time last year when people were asking me,
like they felt like the Democrats had a very weak
bench this time last year. But when I heard Joe Biden,
President Biden himself say very bench, because it sounded I
don't wan anybody. Every time I said that, they say
you say, bitch, they said. When I saw President Biden

(27:26):
say he thinks that there's about fifty other Democrats who
can beat Trump, I was like, well, who are they? Well,
then you know, I think Governor Shapiro in Pennsylvania.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
I think, No, I don't think so. Nope, I don't
even stand the chance.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
No.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
I didn't believe in Governor Newsom at first, but I
started to see him make some maneuvers that I was like, Okay,
I can see that.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
I like him in terms of how he looks, how
policy is. I mean, it's almost like somebody that used
to look at bit Rodney when he was running against
about he really looks good in those blue suits, say
he looks presidential. I looked at Gavin news and particularly
when he debated Ron DeSantis on Foxers, I said, okay,
he looks the part. But at the end of the day,
if you look in California, you see the homelessness, you

(28:13):
see the immigration issues, you see the economy, you see taxis,
you see the price of gas and everything else.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
I think that's where Trump smokes him.

Speaker 4 (28:20):
That's my opiure, because you can always point to California.
I think Wes Moore in the future.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yes, you know, if we had a democracy, he's got
a chance.

Speaker 4 (28:27):
You think wes Moore and Maryland. But those those are
like those are like my three right now.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
I still I like Tim Ryan too.

Speaker 4 (28:32):
Tim Ryan was I think he was a congressman for
in Ohio at one point.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
I like I like him a lot too.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
But you know, the light doesn't never, never, really get
shined on him like that. But those those three I
think have some potential. And I still believe in the
vice vice president.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
I was going right there. That was my next question.
I didn't hear you mention Kamala Harris. Vice President, Kamala Harris,
you still believe in her?

Speaker 4 (28:54):
I do, but wear in the bottom of the knife. Yes,
we're in the bottom of the knife. And you know
she's been in that off for over three years now,
and I just wish people could see the Kamala Harris
that you get when you're just having a conversation with her.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
That is exactly why I don't believe in her, exactly
that because I'm not questioning her credentials. I'm not questioning
her ability to deliver and resonate in terms of a message.
My problem is you waited too long, not too and
so much time has passed by, and she been taking
a lot of sy You know, you vp you can't
do but so much you gotta flow along with what

(29:30):
the administration asked you to do. So I blame them
more than I blame her. But in the same breath,
I'm looking at it and I'm saying, how could you
let it get to this point?

Speaker 2 (29:39):
But you know what's so interesting? They gave her.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
There was a way for her to come in and
really have like a I don't want to say a
heel turn, but like a turn in her the character
that we saw because you had Nikki Haley running around
saying we should be we should have chills up our
spine for a Kamala Harris.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
That's right presidency.

Speaker 4 (30:00):
Like you know, you had other people in Republican parties
saying we should be scared to death of a Kamala
Harris presidency. Well, damn while scared to death that's not
even language we used for Donald Trump.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
Are you ready for this? You know where I think
she missed it? Where Ron DeSantis in the state of Florida.
The education system. They try to explain that there were
benefits to slavery and they were challenging folks to debate
them on this, and one of the challenges was to

(30:32):
the Vice president. Yeah, and she passed, And if you can,
if you can't debate and listen, listen, we're gonna be
neutral here. You know, we're black men, we're proud black men,
but we're gonna we're gonna be neutral here from the standpoint.
We're gonna say it as plainly as I can without
trying to be offensive.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
If you can't debate.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
A middle aged white man who is saying that there
are benefits to slavery, as the vice president of the
United States, as a former district attorney of San Francisco,
the first black woman, as the former first black state
attorney general in the state of California, if.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
You can't debate that subject with a.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
Presidential candidate at the time, to me, it was one
of those things. Yeah, it might be beneath you. You
might be swinging down because you're there and he's not,
because he was aiming to go for the White House.
But in the same breath, that issue should have been
so piercing to you. That position that they took, that
should have been a fight you were willing to embrace.

Speaker 4 (31:31):
You, and you saw when that's what Gavin Newsom took
up the fight, right, so you him and Ronda Sanders
actually were debating on Fox. I agree with you, like
you got to go into that lions then, Like you know,
I know for a fact that a lot of Democrats,
you know, in her position, they feel like their words
get misconstrued by Fox News. So they're kind of afraid
to speak truth to power the way they want to

(31:51):
because they feel like Fox will take.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
A SoundBite and run it over and over for their audience.

Speaker 4 (31:56):
It can be So what if you're willing to go
to Fox because they can't misconstrue you when you right there.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
In your face everywhere? Ain't the only net that's right?

Speaker 4 (32:04):
President Obama used to go on O'Riley factor, like John Stuart,
even though he wasn't an elected official, he used to
go on. You see Gavin Newsom, he goes on Fox
Now and goes with handity debates Ron DeSantis. I feel
like the VP should have been doing that, especially when
they were saying things like we should be scared to
death of a Kamala Harris presidency. You're only saying that

(32:25):
because she's black. You're only saying that because she's black
and she's a woman, Like, there's no other thing to fear,
because if she got into the White House and she
became president, her policies wouldn't be any different than any
other Democrat.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
So what is there to fear.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Other than that she's a black woman. She should have
took that opening and ran with it.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
What about the notion that as a state attorney general,
as a prosecutor in the state of California, there were
a whole bunch of black folks that she put in jail.
What about people who make that argument against her, I
don't know they answer to that question, I'm genuinely asked.

Speaker 4 (32:53):
Yeah, I don't fully know the answer to it at all,
But I do know that, you know, when you talk about,
you know, at the time, the way that the drug
laws were set up in that state, she probably was
just following the letter of the law, you know, in
a lot of ways. But I mean, as the laws
have changed in this country, I've definitely seen her positions
on marijuana and things of that nature, you know, pivot

(33:14):
I mean right now there, I think it would be
it would serve them so well for President Biden, who
can actually do this.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
With a stroke of a pin.

Speaker 4 (33:22):
He can literally free everybody who's in federal prison for
a non violent marijuana offence. There's some people who feel
like it should be he should free everybody who's in
federal prison for a non violent drug offence, all across
the board. I would like to see them do things
like that. I would like to see her leading the
charge on something like that and then President Biden signing it.

(33:43):
Can you imagine if we heard that announcement tomorrow, everybody
who's in federal prison for a non violent drug offense,
Joe Biden's giving them a party.

Speaker 1 (33:52):
Especially when you know the crime Bill assistant and so
many of them being in there, and to begin to
begin with in the nineties. But again, but again, Biden
was a senator at that time, pushing that Congressional Black
Caucus was telling him to push that. We have to
take into account Bill Clinton, he was in office, Hillary
Rodham Clinton or a presidential candidate in twenty sixteen. Obviously
she was the first lady around that time, but all

(34:13):
of them are connected to that.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
Biden took credit for that, But Biden took a lot
of this is the Biden crime bill.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
That's what he used to say, eighty.

Speaker 4 (34:20):
Six mandatory minimum citizen, eighty eight crack laws, ninety four
crime bill, President Biden, like that was me.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
I did that.

Speaker 4 (34:27):
So yeah, somebody like that who has systemically caused a
lot of black and brown people to go to prison,
that's the type of stuff you literally owe black people.
And you can do that with a stroke of a pen.
You don't need Congress to vote that. You can say, hey,
I'm pardoning everybody on a federal level who's in prison
right now for a non violent druggs.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
But he hasn't.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
And because he hasn't, what about folks on the right
who would say, see, that's them, that's not us.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
Why y'all constantly looking at us?

Speaker 1 (34:51):
Why not look at them and what they're not doing,
because they're giving you lip surface.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
At least we're straight up about where we stand at
who we are.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
That's what cond of positions they would take in terms
of their policies and their politics.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Per se. What do you say to that?

Speaker 4 (35:03):
I would say that, you know, that's never going to
garner anybody black to want to vote for people. I
think that there's a there's a there's a misconception that
when you see, you know, President Biden losing some black voters,
and there's a there's this overstated number they keep saying
for Republicans, like twenty three percent of if the election
was out today, twenty three percent of all African Americans

(35:24):
were vote Republican.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
I don't ever see that happening.

Speaker 4 (35:26):
But I think just because you see people leaving the
Democratic Party doesn't mean they going to be Republicans. That
couch is real, y'all. So many these people are just
going to stay home.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
But then that begs the question, who does the couch
work for? We know who we could work against, but
who does it work for? If you're the Republicans. Let's
just say, for the sake of argument, I'm looking at
some numbers say out throwing to buy you, or a
percentage of votes pop party. For election year twenty sixteen,
ninety percent of the Democratic voters were black, one percent
were Republican. Twenty eighteen, sixteen percent of Democratic voters were black,

(35:58):
dip three percent. Still, only one percent of Republican voters
were black. Twenty twenty, the presidential election, nineteen percent of
the Democratic voters were black, tying to sixteen two percent.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Of the Republican voters were black.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
And then in twenty twenty two, which they thought was
going to be, you know, a red wave and didn't
turn out to be that way, seventy percent of all
Democratic voters were black.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
One percent of all Republican voters were black.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
So I guess what I'm looking at is I'm looking
at these numbers right here, and I'm saying to myself,
if you're Trump and you've got some black Naga.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
Republicans who are willing to support you.

Speaker 1 (36:33):
Bro, I'm looking at numbers here and we're talking about Okay,
it's not two percent, it's not ten percent, but what
if it was four percent, What if.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
It was five percent? That could swing the election?

Speaker 4 (36:43):
I don't know, because they're losing a lot of white
women too, you know, and vy way, yeah, and a
lot of white women are the white women really are
the reason Donald Trump got into the White House the
first time.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
But nobody ever brings that up, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (36:56):
They always want to point the thing at black people
and black men and black women. Know why, really black men,
but really white women with the reason that Donald Trump
got into the Whiteut of twenty sixteen and a lot
of white women. I guess because of Roe v Wade
they are moving away from the Republican Party. So I
don't know how much of a difference four percent, five
percent sways an election.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
So you're saying you don't think the black vot's going
to sway the election. You think the female vote, the
women vote, is going to swear the election.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
I can see.

Speaker 4 (37:24):
Yeah, I can see that more so than you know,
the black vote, because you know, that's what I'm looking
for in November, Like Roe v Wade is a big issue.
I can't believe that it's not more people out there
in the streets every day terrans it up because Roe
v Wade got taken away, and I think that, you know,
women are very strategic, right, So I think, you know,
coming November, it's gonna be a lot of women that

(37:46):
remember that because Trump is out there saying I'm the
reason Roe v Wade is gone. He kind of moved
away from that that rhetoric, but those sound bites are
still out there, and.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
I don't think he cares though I think he thinks
it's going to work for him.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
Yeah, I don't see that working for him, because you know,
you women. Yeah, that's black women, White women, Asian women,
Jewish women. You got all these different women that might
mobilize this a double edged sword. On one hand, here's
what I believe.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
I think it's a situation where, Okay, you have an
abundance of women out there who are pro choice, how
dare you, as a man, as anybody, tell us what
we have the right to do with our body right.
The flip side is you have an abundance of Republicans
that can say there's a whole bunch of women out

(38:29):
here who were pro life, and they were the ones
that compelled us to do this as well. So I
don't know whether that balances itself out. It remains to
be seen. I think that's what we find out in
this election. According to what you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
But even if you look at like like the midterms,
I feel like that was an issue for them. That
red wave that you spoke about was supposed to happen,
that didn't. I think Rob Wade was a big reason
why it did not.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
It did not happen. So I think in.

Speaker 4 (38:57):
November, yeah, I think you might see a lot more
women come out then you think. But the reason I
push back on what people say about the black vote
is because don't blame this on us. You know what
I mean when you look at the approval ratings for
President Biden, Here's approval ratings are down with everybody.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
You know what I'm saying different posts, That's what.

Speaker 4 (39:16):
I'm saying, Young people, independence, black people, Latinos, so like,
don't just put that on on black people, like you know,
they got to figure out a way to energize America, period.
Even after the State of the Union's approval ratings didn't
move at all. And I think I read a study
that said one in three, one in three people under
thirty didn't even see or even hear about the State.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
They kept it on their TVs and they were they
were doing something else while the TV was on, but
they want to listen to it.

Speaker 4 (39:45):
But once again, Democrats do a poor job and messaging.
You mean to tell me that every single network on TV,
damn near was carrying the State of the Union and
one in three people under the age of thirty didn't
even see or hear about it.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
You know what nobody else brought up because you know, listen,
I didn't watch it on Fox. I was watching another channel.
But I think Fox carried it. And what I said
to folks is Fox carried the State of the Union.
That shows you how not worried they are about body.
They actually carried his State of the Union. They are
not phased by.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
Him at all.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
And so now let's transition to this particular subject, because
it is one of the reasons that I wanted to
talk to you. What about black folks who have a
problem with black folks who point out all of these things.
You've experienced it, I've experienced it, a whole bunch of
other folks have experienced it emanating from our community. What
do you make of that?

Speaker 4 (40:39):
It makes me wonder what are they serving at these
White House Christmas parties? Is the food so good at
these white House Christmas parties that these people do not
want to lose their access to these white House Christmas parties?
So if Charlamagne says something about their good Master Biden
Stephen the Smith, there's somebody they're good math bide, we
got to go out there and attack them on the
behalf of good math Bide. Why what am I saying wrong?

(41:00):
Because you know what, they don't do it to David Axelrod,
I'm saying the same things that David Axlelrodd is saying.
They don't say it to Ezra Klein when he writes
his articles for The New York Times. I'm saying the
same thing that Ezra Cline is saying. But as soon
as I said, all of these black people who run
out to try to chop my head off or chop
killer Mike's head off, and we're not.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
By the way, Paul killer Mike, kill Mike hasn't said
nothing nothing, not kill Mike.

Speaker 1 (41:24):
I mean that we saw him, he was unfairly being
detained and escort.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
It out of the day. Yes, they got nothing wrong here.

Speaker 4 (41:33):
The think people don't listen, right, Killer Michael's on Bill
Maher and Killer Michael's on the View, and Bill Maher,
you know, asked him who he wants to endorse. He's like, look,
I'm not endorsing nobody. I'm focused on local politics, whatever whatever.
But he said, I endorsed Bernie Sanders, right, he said,
I indorsed Bernie Sanders. So I would tell you to
support the candidate who's more likely to be in line

(41:54):
with those progressive policies that Bernie Sanders was in line
with that's clearly President Biden. But then Bill Maher instead
of just saying, oh, that's clearly President Biden, Bill margoes,
why can't you just say you want you're voting for Biden?

Speaker 2 (42:08):
What if so what if he don't want to?

Speaker 4 (42:11):
Why can't you say that, Bill bart Then when he
was on Yes, and then then when he's on the View,
they tried to put him in the same trick bag
and kill him. He goes, look, man, I supported Keisha
Lance Bottoms, Keisha LANs Bottoms was was a part of
the Biden administration. I supported our mayor Andre Dickens. I
got two Democratics. I helped to get two Democratic senators

(42:31):
elected in uh in In in Georgia. So I would
support the people who who I would support the person
who the people I've supported are supported.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
That's what he said on the View.

Speaker 4 (42:43):
Instead of them going, oh, that's Biden, they start going, well,
let me read you this list of things that Biden
did for the black community.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
Nobody's nobody's debating that. Nobody's debating that.

Speaker 4 (42:55):
This is what I mean when I say the right
does a better job of pushing the narrative than the
left does. Because Mike was right there and instead of
just amplifying, Okay, well, he's telling y'all vote for Biden.
Y'all y'all want to but paint him as something he's not.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
But that's just one element. But that's just one element.
What about the advent of social media? All these social
media platforms, everybody's got a voice. And if you don't
parrot the speech of what the black community believes, you're
supposed to parrot, your sellout, you're.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Beyond all of that. Think about what they did to
ice Cube. I'm talking about us as a community. Think
about what we did.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
Ice Cube set up there and said I have a
plan for Black America that I wanted to present.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Trump entertained listening.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
Biden seemed reluctant to do so at the time before
the twenty twenty election. And this dude, a former member
of NWA for crying out loud, who is as raw
and as real as it gets, was crucified by.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
Our own What do you make of that? I think
I think that, listen.

Speaker 4 (44:02):
I think there might be some fair criticism with everything
that everybody's saying, right, I think with the ice Cube situation,
there might have been some fair criticism because I'm the
type person I'm not going alone because I know I'm
not no expert. I may have the platform right and
i may have to have the ears to the people,
but I'm not the experts.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
I'm gonna bring the experts with me, you know.

Speaker 4 (44:22):
So if I was ice Cube, I wouldn't have wanted
to have that meeting by myself, like, because I know
he didn't help put together that plan for Black America
by itself, So bring those experts with you that helped
put together.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
That he was going by himself. I didn't know that.
I mean, that's that's what it seems like.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
I don't know if that's the case, right, Like, Like
for me, I would have just amplified the plan and said, hey,
these people helped me put together this plan, which I
think I which if I'm not mistaken. I heard him
mention a couple of names, but I don't want to
say the name because I'm not sure if that's the
case or not. But I think in situations like that,
we have to use our I guess whatever you want
to call it, access, celebrity whatever, to amplify the act expert.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
That's the whole objective for us to have a platform.
You want to amplify an issue. You want to amplify
the people that are around you, who are the experts.
You want to put folks in a position where real
stuff can actually get done, Real dialogue can take place,
real stuff can get done. I remember I was getting
CRUs five men and Joe Madison god rested soul passed
away of the Black Eagle host a serious eximpt Yeah, yeah, man, absolutely.

(45:21):
I remember years ago he called me because I was
giving a speech at Vanderbilt. And one of the things
that I would normally say when I was giving these
speeches is I said, for one election, I wish everyone
would vote Republican. And they were like, what you know,
Because I started off by saying racism doesn't exist, and
then I would pause and I would say, obviously, onlon,
of course it does. You just don't have that as

(45:43):
an excuse for stymying your growth and moving forward and progressing.
They would cut out the part where I said obviously online,
of course it exists, and just said Stephen Ay said
racism does exist.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
You know.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
And luckily I have my own platform, so I don't
worry about making sure the voice gets heart. But in
the end bringing it up because I think it's important
to point this out. The only point that I was
trying to make when I say stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Is flat of us.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
We go in situations we let you give us lip
service during the election year, tell us what we've let
this happen for decades and then nothing gets done when
you look at the Hispanic population and the one benefit
one could argue about immigration being such a fervent issue
is that it's in the mind's eye of politicians, so
you have to at least come across like you're doing something,

(46:28):
whereas with us, nobody had to do that. I said,
you go to Greater Car, you don't just buy it,
you test drive it, got house, you walk through it,
you see it.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
What's up?

Speaker 1 (46:36):
You don't just sit up there and transparently give somebody
your vote because you serve to disenfranchise yourself.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
On one hand, you got one.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Side that knows you ain't gonna never support them, so
they don't have to do a damn thing for you.
And on the other side, they get to take you
for granted. So there's what so much they're going to
do for you. And I think that's how we've hurt ourself.
That's the position that I've always taken. What about you?

Speaker 4 (46:57):
What you said is interesting just now because you know,
I've heard plenty of people, especially for the last couple
of elections, like we're just gonna hold our vote period.
Let Democrats fall flat on their face. I've never heard
them say, let's go out and vote Republican. But that's
at the time I say that recently, but say that.
But the reason I think that's interesting is because you
know people will be like, you can't you cannot encourage
people not to vote, which I agree. I feel like

(47:20):
everybody should go out there and vote, But I'm not.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
I can't tell you who to vote for.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
You know, I can tell you what I feel like
this candidate is doing. And I can tell you what
I feel like this candidate is doing. I can tell
what I feel like it's going to happen in this
country if this person gets elected. I can tell what
I feel it's gon happen in this country if this
person gets elected. Once I lay all out on the table,
you got to make your own decision. I think right now,
you know where we're in a place where there are
a lot of people even saying that this year, like
I'm not voting them, Let let this country fall on

(47:47):
his face, like this, Ain't this not the year to
do that? Now we say that every president's election cycle.
This is really not the to do that. But I
can totally understand why people feel that way, and I
think folks get upset when we're just listening to what
the people are saying and what feeling, what the people

(48:08):
are feeling.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
And expressing that to folks.

Speaker 4 (48:10):
I'm telling the Democratic Party, this is how people are feeling,
this is what people are saying. The exhausted majority folks
is just tired.

Speaker 1 (48:19):
What about the Democratic Party focusing on the extreme stuff?
I mean, I don't you know when they were You
had folks on the right arguing about the economy, You
have folks on the left arguing about who should be
allowed in bathrooms, stuff like that. I mean some of these,
some of these other arguments, I mean, it was driving
me crazy. I'm like, that's not at the end of
the day, that's not gonna swing folks one way or

(48:40):
the other.

Speaker 4 (48:41):
No, I always say that, you know, we made a
lot of micros macros. People are human at the end
of the day. What did I say earlier. People care
about up with mobility and security. People want to feel safe.
That's it, that's it. I don't care what type of
human you are on this planet. No't matter what your
sexual your gender identity is, your sexuality, nothing.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
People just want to feel safe.

Speaker 4 (49:02):
Whoever is in that White House, whoever your your, your
governor is or you know.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
Your your your your your your sentences.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
All we want people in those positions who can make
sure that we got some money in our pocket and
can make us feel safe.

Speaker 1 (49:15):
You know what they're gonay, they're gonna say what Trump
it was the economy and national security was not something
that he was shy about promoting as well. So if
you got those two elements, that's about money in your pocket,
that's about safety, and they'll lean on that and they
say that makes him a better candidate than Joe Biden.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Man.

Speaker 4 (49:29):
Do you know, you know, back in January, right, I
was doing an interview with Fox News Joseph who does
the digital digital stuff at Fox News, and he asked
me a simple question. He said, Charlamage, do you think
the border is going to be an issue coming November?

Speaker 2 (49:45):
And I said, hell, yeah, yes.

Speaker 4 (49:46):
And the reason I said hell, yes, is because for
the first time in my community, people are talking to
me about what's happening at the border.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
Not because they're anti you know, immigrants, not Xenophon.

Speaker 4 (49:58):
No, what they were talking about it the fact that
they felt like those individuals were getting resources.

Speaker 5 (50:04):
If we want to get black communion has never gotten
Rick Adams and not his fault, Governor oak olymp but
fifty three million dollar prepaid credit cards, but undocumented or
illegal immigrants.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
Man, But when was that happening for black people?

Speaker 4 (50:17):
And those are just basic necessities, Yes, food and a
roof over your head. There are some people in this
there's a lot of people in this country who don't
have that. So if you think that they're gonna look
at you know, these people coming in from other countries
and they're getting they're getting rewarded with those things and.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
They don't have it, you think they're not gonna raise hell,
you think they're not gonna have a fit.

Speaker 4 (50:37):
Then I had people coming to me in New York
City talking to me about how, you know, gangs from
different countries were coming in and running through their neighborhoods
like causing problems.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
So what are we talking about again? Money in safety.

Speaker 4 (50:51):
So these are real conversations that I was having with
real people. This ain't nothing I was reading. Wasn't those statistics.
These are people calling the phone lines and the people
that I'm actually talking to. So I said that, man,
do you know they ran an article, they ran an
article on MSNBC that said, charlemagnea god is pushing MAGA messaging.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Now they've done it to me about three times, about
three times now in March. It's the number one issue
the borders. Right now.

Speaker 4 (51:16):
You got President Biden, you know, down at the border
asking Donald Trump, let's fix this together.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
It's like, yo, just listen to the people.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
And Donald Trump is three hundred miles away at the
border blaming Biden.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
You know what's going on. You know what I'm saying.
But that just comes from me listening to people.

Speaker 4 (51:32):
I really think sometimes, man, we sit in our positions
of privilege and we forget about, you know, the least
of us in this country. But when you talk to
the least of us in this country and see what
the least of us in this country want, you get
a really good picture of what America needs.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Have you ever been more worried about the black community
than you are right.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Now, man, that's a fantastic question. Have I ever been
more work more worried.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
That's a good question, man, And and and the reason,
the reason that's such a good question is on my
nerves every day, Steven, If I'm being totally honest with you,
it just it just.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
Is every every.

Speaker 4 (52:16):
Every damn d I love us, I love us too,
but damn damn.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
Yeah. And I'm sorry. I know it's mixed company, but.

Speaker 4 (52:25):
What it is, I just yeah, it's just I don't
know if I'm more worried because I do feel like
I do feel like there's enough of us in certain positions,
and enough of us with a certain consciousness that we
really want what's best.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
For our people.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
And it's a lot of us, a lot of folks
that I see, they're not waiting on nobody, They're not
waiting on government. Like there's a lot of people using
their own resources to do things, you know, for us.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
Like for me, I my mother's alma mater of the.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
South Carolina State University, I opened up, you know, a
scholarship in my mother's names Stalk Carolina State University. I
gave him that a quarter million dollars out of my
own pockets, you know, Like I have a partnership with
the food Bank in hallm because I'm sitting there talking
about we got to keep people's food.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
We got to keep food on.

Speaker 4 (53:10):
These people with that by the way, Oh, they'd love
to have you actually, you know. So it's certain things
that I see a lot of us doing, Like you know,
my nonprofit, the Mental Wealth Alliance, you know, where we're
trying to get ten million black and brown people, you know,
free therapy over the next five years. Like you know,
every day we're making you know, strides towards those type
of things. So I think that there's a lot of

(53:31):
people who aren't waiting on anybody, a lot of black
people who aren't waiting on anybody, who are taking our
destiny into our own hands. So that that gives me
a lot of hope. But man, when I go on
this boy, it makes me hate. It makes me hate
us something. And why does it make you hate? Because
we we we we we tear each other down in
ways like that we talking.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
About President Biden.

Speaker 4 (53:53):
Right, we give white men like President Biden so much grace,
but don't give each other zero zero. You can talk,
you bring up President Biden's ninety four Crime BILLD or
eighty six Mandatory minimum centizen or eighty eight crack Law.
They will make up all types of excuses, is why
that happened. People should be allowed to change and this
and that. But you don't do that with your own people, right,

(54:15):
you don't do that with your own You know what
they'll say people, They'll say, Steven, and who the hell
are you to talk?

Speaker 2 (54:19):
Chelman? God, who the hell are you to talk?

Speaker 1 (54:21):
Because people come on y'all shows and y'all grill them
every day. Y'all all call it like y'all see it,
But y'all knock it down to black man every day.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
That's what they'll say. That's what they'll say about you,
That's what they'll say about me. How do you respond
to that.

Speaker 4 (54:31):
I don't think we're I don't think we're knocking down
black men. I think having conversations with people is not
knocking them down, you know.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
I think you know, if you feel if.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
You're calling it like you see it for stuff that
they do in front of millions of people.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
Yeah, and I'm not I'm not calling for somebody to
be erased off the face of the earth like you
know what I mean, I'm not trying to go prove
their timeline and get rid of them all together.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
We're just having conversations.

Speaker 4 (54:52):
It's the same way when people disagree with things that
I say, I'll listen.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
I don't have no problem apologizing if I'm wrong, right,
you know.

Speaker 4 (54:59):
I don't have no problem saying, hey, you know what,
I got that wrong, my fault.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
I don't have any problem doing that.

Speaker 4 (55:03):
And I don't have a problem bringing the person I
was talking about onto the platform so we can have,
you know, a conversation amongst each other. I think I
think that's really good for our community to see.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
I've cut back on that that. Let me tell you why,
you too. I hear a YouTube show here. You understand
I'm saying I'm on part your teammate on iHeart Radio now.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
And stuff like that. Love it.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Here's the deal, because you can make money now doing
that shit.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
That's what you got cats doing.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
They ain't whispering and saying stuff privately or or just
saying something on a.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
Social media platform for you to see. Now. They want
everybody to see it. They want it monetized.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
They don't have to have proof, they don't have to
have literally evidence they don't have to back it up
with something to facts, They don't have to do any
of that. Now you're trying to act like you all
up in your feelings, like you're really really conscientious, when
in fact you're just trying.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
To get bad.

Speaker 4 (55:58):
Yeah, you just want you you want media respond.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
So then now you got more content.

Speaker 4 (56:03):
All you want access to the platform because I might
invite you on to have the conversation, or I might
go to your platform to have the conversation.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
You know, you're right about that, You're right about that,
Like you.

Speaker 4 (56:13):
Know, we are in a word economy nowadays, and like
nobody cares.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Our world word.

Speaker 4 (56:20):
And nobody cares about the truth of those words. Just
the lie is more entertaining, and they'll say, who the
hell are y'all say that?

Speaker 1 (56:28):
But my response to that would be, well, we were
doing this before the avent of social media, So clearly
I intent as professionals, this is what we're conducting on
a day in dat our basis me for over thirty years,
you for at least over twenty somebody years. You understand
what I'm saying. So that's the way I look at
it now. But again I'll come back to you and
ask any hope whatsoever, silver lining, you know, a light

(56:48):
at the end of the rainbow down, you know, down
the line.

Speaker 4 (56:50):
Yeah, there's a lot of hope because, like you know,
it's a double edged sword when it comes to social media, right,
because the problem with social media that gave everybody a voice,
but the gifts of social medias that gave everybody a voice.
So when I look at brothers like ern your Lesia,
you know, Rashad and Troy, When I look at brothers
like nineteen Keys, when I look at brothers like you know,

(57:13):
Wall Street Travel, when I even look at like a
lot of the athletes who are you know, I love
what the Pivot is doing, Like the conversations that they
having over there, them brothers is helping out, helping folks
heal like in a in a in.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
A real way.

Speaker 4 (57:25):
Ryan Clark, oh god, oh man. I love it when
I see stuff like that. When I see people, you know,
able to control their own narratives and put those kind
of things out there, it gives me a lot of hope.
Because Malcolm X said, you know, a person who controls
the media controls the minds of the masses.

Speaker 2 (57:39):
And I think, right now, you.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
Know we do have a lot of good people that
are in positions of power, you know, and with different platforms,
and I think they're putting a lot of a lot
of good stuff out there.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
So there's there's always hope.

Speaker 4 (57:51):
But we have to understand everybody can't go you know
what I'm saying. That got me Some people got some
people behind. Read when you read the Bible, there's a
there's a couple of stories in the Bible. God told Noah, look,
build up everybody, and you can tell them what's gonna happen.
There's gonna be a lot of daughters. There's will be
a lot of nay says. People are gonna critique you
and all this and that. Don't worry about it. Whoever

(58:14):
believes you, that's who's gonna come with you.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
I bet you they believe. When it started raining and
those doors started.

Speaker 4 (58:20):
Closing and the floods, you look at a Lot, right,
Lot took his family, and Lot was arguing with.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
God, like God, there's some good people back there, damn it.
Go find go find one Lot, and you can find one.
I spared the whole city. I couldn't find one. Lot's
wife had to look back, turn the salt. I bet
you lot.

Speaker 4 (58:40):
I ain't looking back with it after that, you know.
So it's just like everybody can't go, and we have
to understand that.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
So who are the people that can't go? I'm not
asking names. I'm not asking names. I'm talking about classification.
The cond of folks that you're talking about. Let's crystallize it.
Let's crystallize it for the audience. Who are the kind
of folks that got to be left behind? We gotta
say they let their ask to state, we can't, we
can't break down with us those people.

Speaker 4 (59:02):
I think anybody who's not willing to have genuine conversation,
I think what you said a little while ago is
very important. Like some people are just doing this for
entertainment purposes, and you know, I don't feel like you
know what we're going through in this country, who we
are in this country. I don't think that's a joke.
I don't think that should be with somebody's you know,
entertainment values. So the individuals who really just want confrontation

(59:26):
over conversation, the individuals that we know wherever we go,
they're gonna cause conflict, conflict, you gotta do them, like
Harriet Tell me would have did it? Shoot him right
there on the spot. They can't come with every everybody
cannot cannot, cannot cannot go with us.

Speaker 2 (59:45):
And I think, I think we know who a lot
of those individuals are.

Speaker 4 (59:48):
That there's there's a there's a lot of us who
have a long history and a long resume of just
wanting to cause conflict amongst us, cause conflict amongst each other.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:00:00):
I think those individuals like, let them, let them go
figure out something else.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
Last question on this subject that you consider the role
that you play when you take the position that you
just articulated. Is that your approach and you just keep
it to yourself and you do it, or is that
a message that you try to disseminate to as many
people who are willing to listen, that are in our position,
that have the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
Ability to sort of provoke change in some way. Oh now, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
I have these conversations all the time, publicly and privately,
you know, because like I feel like we all can
create our own ecosystems with our own you know, like
minded individuals, and I try to be I try to
be around like minded individuals who I see, you know,
doing things for our people on their own. And I'm
also willing to build with the elected officials who are

(01:00:48):
in these positions apart because I can't sit here and
act like especially in my hometown Moncecow to South Carolina,
the Low Country area, Charleston and all that. Man, there's
so many great you know, congressmen like my man, my man,
my man Jay Moore like people like that who help
me get things done for our community. So I'm not
gonna ever sit here and act like you know, government

(01:01:08):
doesn't play a role, because it absolutely, positively, positively does,
you know, But you just don't need government dependency. We
don't need we don't need government help. Dependency is different. Yeah,
we don't need government dependency until we can put those
people in positions that we can actually depend on. Like
there's people that we know we could depend on if
they get in that position, Like if Anina Turner was
an elected official, we know we could depend on, you know,

(01:01:31):
somebody like her, But we don't have too many of those.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
So the ones that we do have, you know, in.

Speaker 4 (01:01:36):
Those positions, we got to support them. We got to
support the Ayana Presley's of the world, you know, we
got to support those people who are in Congress, who
we know are fighting for us every day. But like
I said, for me, I'm willing to work with anybody
who's willing to work with me and work on the
things that I want to get done, you know, for
for for us as a people. And once again, man,

(01:01:58):
we had these conversations about black people. Black people are
human beings, just we want upward mobility and safety. How
can we get some money in our pocket and be
safe and be safe and free to spend it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
By the way, that's free to spend it? What I
having to worry about?

Speaker 4 (01:02:13):
Right, That's right, it's not it's not. It's not rocket
science here, people. So when you have these when that,
when you're an elected official or anybody and you're sitting
around having these conversations about what black people.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Want, ask yourself, what do you want?

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
Somebody would look at us right now and accuse us
of having a quote unquote black liberal conversation, either or
neither you. Neither you nor I feel that way. We
just having a real conversation. What are your thoughts about
black conservatives? And I say that black conservatives as in
Black conservatism, as opposed to the Maga Republicans. I'm not
trying to I'm just talking black conservatives.

Speaker 2 (01:02:43):
What are your thoughts about that? I don't I don't
have a problem with black conservatives.

Speaker 4 (01:02:47):
I do have a problem with black maga because it
feels like maga is so against the basic interest of
black people. That's why even when you know President Biden
was on Breakfast Club and he said if you don't
know whether it from me a Trump and you and
you ain't like that didn't insult me because I understood
what he was saying.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
It bothered me, though, really, you know why it bothered
me because he was talking to you, and you're a
brother that has tackled so many issues and nobody's perfect
in nobody's flaws, but you've done a hell of a
lot more good than anyone could ever than anyone has
ever given you credit for as far as I'm concerned,
and I respect the hell out of you because of it.
It bothered me that he said that to you, because

(01:03:28):
I'm like, who the hell are you to say something
like that?

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
Now, I wouldn't think about what he said as much as.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
Him, of all people saying it, because we just removed
for if we can hold Trump and you know, as
a landlord and as you know, as an owner, as
a home order, as a landlord, more so than anything else.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
In the seventies.

Speaker 1 (01:03:46):
And we could hold those things against them. If we
can hold the Central Park five against them, right, we
can certainly hold stuff against Biden from the nineties in
the crime. And so for him to be in twenty
twenty saying that to you, trying to absolve himself from
all that he did, and like, Yo, this ain't the
dude you want, you want me and if you don't

(01:04:07):
know better, you ain't black.

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
That bothered.

Speaker 4 (01:04:10):
And I think that we got to that statement because
of seventeen minutes of intense questioning about that thing about
his record, and I think he was.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
Just you know, flustered. Listen.

Speaker 4 (01:04:21):
I don't like make an excuse for white people, you
know what I mean, But just in that moment, I
felt like he was simply saying, if you don't know
whether if you vote with Trump, you're voting against your
own interest.

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
So I just think when.

Speaker 4 (01:04:31):
It comes to MAGA in general, you're voting against your
own interest.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
But I don't have a problem with tried and true black.

Speaker 4 (01:04:38):
Conservatives, especially when you have conversations with them, and you
see why they decided they wanted to, you know, vote Republican.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
It's literally just all about the money most of the time.

Speaker 4 (01:04:48):
Most of the time, it's literally just about the money.
That's why I go back to what I said about
Nikki Haley. I feel like Republicans missed a good opportunity
to have somebody in a general election who could probably
get vote from both sides just because people want something different.
I don't think I think there's a lot of black people,
especially probably down South, who might have more conservative values

(01:05:10):
than they they than they lead on, you know, and
I think that she might have been able to galvanize
some of those people.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
Election is eight months a year away.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
What is Charlemagne that God gonna be saying over the
next eight months to the American people, specifically the black
America And.

Speaker 2 (01:05:29):
What do you expect to fall out of your words.

Speaker 4 (01:05:31):
To be I'm gonna say the same thing I've been saying.
I feel like, you know, Donald Trump is the threat
of democracy. I feel like, you know, this is a
man who led an attempt to cool his country. I
can't even believe that we're talking about him like he's
a normal candidate. That's the other thing that bothers me
about the media. We're acting like all of this stuff
that's happening right now in front of us is normal.
This guy got ninety one criminal charges, foreign diatments, He's

(01:05:53):
been in peace twice. He shouldn't be allowed to work
at Walmart. Nonetheless, run for president and nothing wrong with Walmart.
I love, by the way, But.

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
You have people if he were convicted, because it's still
possible he can be convicted of a felony, they would
still vote for him. And we have nothing in our
constitution that prevents him from running and continuing to run.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
So I'm gonna keep saying that about Trump, but I'm
also keep saying about you know, President Biden and his administration,
especially if they're not pivoting where like right now, I
still don't see the sense of urgency. And I hate
when politicians put more on us, the people.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
They put more weight on us to show.

Speaker 4 (01:06:32):
Up and vote, as opposed to putting weight on themselves
to give us something to show up and vote for. Like,
yet we're here with another presidential election where the only
thing they're selling people is fear.

Speaker 2 (01:06:45):
Now should we be afraid this time? Absolutely?

Speaker 4 (01:06:48):
But once again, if this is what you've done every
single presidential election since I've been alive. You become the
party who cried wolf. And that's what I feel like
the Democrats are right now. They're a party who cried wolf,
because now that the wolf is actually there, nobody believe.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
When you tell black folks this. They're gonna have a
problem with you. Charla Man, you should have a problem
with me. I have a problem with the shouldn't should
have a problem with that campaign. I know they shouldn't,
But but you know how we can be yes.

Speaker 4 (01:07:13):
So what you're gonna do, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep
speaking truth to power because I feel like that's that's
what That's what God has me here to do, and
that's what I see. So until I see something different,
then I'll start speaking something different. As of right now,
I don't see anything different to speak on. And I hope,
you know, President Biden does some really incredible things over

(01:07:35):
the next couple of months to really start energizing people,
and I hope that he starts to lean on his
Hysarahen It's a lot more. I still want to see
more VP Harris out there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
I still want to see, you know, Charlemagne man, she
gotta resonate, man, it can't just be excuse me, she's
the VP. So if this dude ends up stepping away
and at the Democratic National Convention they want somebody else
instead of and they convince him to step back because
he just doesn't have it. Oh excuse me, she's automatically
next to line.

Speaker 2 (01:08:02):
She's gotta go get it.

Speaker 4 (01:08:03):
She would just if I promise, she's got to go
get it, if she would just be herself a little bit.
I'm talking about she had a little.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
Very supportive of her. It seems she had attitude with
you when you spoke to her. I want her to
have that with with you.

Speaker 4 (01:08:18):
Gotbout much, yes, And I want a mansion and I
want I want I want her to have that same
energy with the people who are actually threatening democracy.

Speaker 2 (01:08:27):
That's what I want.

Speaker 4 (01:08:28):
I want her to go out there and prosecute the
case against Donald Trump in this country.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
Man, appreciate you, man, Thanks a lot. Only Charla Mane
God right here on.

Speaker 2 (01:08:38):
Steven A.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
Smith shall back with more of my thoughts in a minute.
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Speaker 1 (01:09:51):
Welcome back to The Steven A. Smith Show. I really
loved that interview. There's a lot that this podcast, this
show is about, but none more so than what you
just witnessed. One on one conversations is not going to
be an operation. It's going to be pretty close to

(01:10:13):
the norm as we move forward doing this show, and a.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
Lot of the issues that were tackled are.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
Going to continue to be tackled, because what I want
everybody to understand is that to me, I didn't just
have a conversation about politics.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
I had a conversation.

Speaker 1 (01:10:31):
About life, particularly life eminating from the black community, because
I am a black man and I'm going to discuss
issues that are pertinent to my community as well as
it's pertinent to our society as a whole. I'm just
not going to run from it. I'm just not going
to avoid it, and I'm not going to be scared to.

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
Address things that need to be addressed.

Speaker 1 (01:10:52):
And I love having people on this show that are
just as fearless while being a substantive as Charlemagne, a
God was on issues that really really resonate with us
as a community and as a society. That's just the
way that it is. It's just the way that it's
going to be. I'm not changing. I watched People talk

(01:11:16):
last week, and I brought this up on Monday Show,
where you had people going off about how I didn't
know much about politics because of my comments about the
State of the Union address. Well, damn it, I didn't
care about most of the issues that he was disgusting
because I already knew what his positions were. What I

(01:11:36):
cared about was how y'all tried to sell us on
him being energetic for an hour and ten minutes and acting.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
Like that's validation that. Guess what, we ain't.

Speaker 1 (01:11:44):
Got nothing to worry about over the next four years
after he turns eighty two this coming November. It makes
no sense the complaints on the right and the left.
I'm not trying to be a political officionado. I am
as an American citizen who's a black man, who cares
about issues that are pertinent.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
To our community in our society.

Speaker 1 (01:12:07):
I've never run from discussing these issues before, and I'll
be damned if I'm gonna run from them now. So
what you saw today with Charlemagne, expect to see more.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
I'm not going away now.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
Is he neitherre are a bunch of other people who
care enough to tackle.

Speaker 2 (01:12:29):
The issues that need to be tackled. Get used to
the Stephen A. Smith Show.

Speaker 1 (01:12:35):
I'm here for a while until next time. Everybody, Peace
of love, be safe, God bless See in a couple
of days

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Stephen A. Smith

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}An interview with Charlemagne Tha God: Politics…and the Black Community