Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.
Here’s a summary of the key themes and highlights:
🔫 Political Violence in Minnesota
- A man named Vance Boelter, posing as a police officer, fatally shot State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounded State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
- Boulter was arrested after what was described as the largest manhunt in Minnesota history.
- He is charged with multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, stalking, and federal firearms offenses.
- A manifesto found in his vehicle listed over 70 targets, including politicians and pro-abortion advocates.
🧨 Rhetoric and Extremism
- The host condemns the violence and supports the death penalty in this case.
- Emphasizes that extremism exists on both sides of the political spectrum.
- Warns against normalizing political violence and calls for a reduction in incendiary rhetoric.
- Draws parallels between passion in sports and politics, arguing that when people feel their lives are affected by policy, emotions run high.
🇺🇸 Trump’s Military Parade & “No Kings” Protests
- Trump held a military parade in D.C. celebrating 250 years of the U.S. Army, coinciding with his 79th birthday.
- Thousands protested across the country under the “No Kings” banner, opposing ICE raids and immigration policies.
- The host questions the optics of the parade and whether it was more about Trump than the military.
🧊 ICE Raids and Immigration Policy
- ICE raids targeting migrants sparked national protests.
- California is suing the Trump administration over immigration enforcement.
- Trump paused raids in sectors like agriculture and hospitality due to economic backlash.
🌍 Middle East Tensions
- Israel and Iran are engaged in escalating conflict, with over 250 missiles exchanged.
- The U.S. is caught in the middle, with critics and defenders on both sides.
- The host notes that every action by one side is met with a counter-narrative by the other, making resolution difficult.
💬 Final Thoughts
- The host expresses frustration at the lack of unity and the absence of peace in both domestic and international affairs.
- Concludes that the country is in a state of deep division, with no clear path to reconciliation in sight.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Let's get started.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
In Minnesota, where there were two shootings, both of which
appeared to have been politically motivated by a man arrested
late last night. Officials said the gunman, posing as a
police officer, fatally shot State Representative Melissa Hortman and her
husband's Saturday at their home. That shooting came after he
wounded State Senator John Hoffman and his wife at their home.
(00:28):
After the first attack, police said they proactively checked on
Representative Hortman's home, where they found a shooter posing as an.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Officer before he fled.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
The suspect, Vance Bolter is his name, was arrested Sunday
after what a local police chief called the largest manhunt
in state's history. Bolter is charged with two counts each
of second degree murder and second degree attempted murder, which
are likely to be upgraded at first degree. Bolter is
also being charged in federal court with one cat ount
(01:00):
of stalking Representative Hortman, one count of stalking Senator Hoffman,
two counts of murder through use of a firearm punishable
up to death by the way, and two counts of
firearms offenses for the shootings of the Hoffman's The shootings
happened Saturday, in what turned out to be a tense
day in national politics. Thousands of people across the country
(01:23):
participated in No King's protest against the Trump administration. All
this while the president himself hosted a military parade celebrating
two hundred and fifty years of the army in Washington,
d C. Couple of things to get out of the way.
Number One, my condolences to loved ones of the Hortman's. Obviously,
(01:47):
that is a tragedy and unspeakable tragedy, something none of
us should condone. We should cheer, we should celebrate in
any way. It's heinous as it comes. As far as
I'm concerned, if this is indeed the assailant one who
committed this crime, mister Bolter, I have no problem with
him receiving the death penalty whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Let's get that out of the way first.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I'm a believer in that under special circumstances, this is
one of them, he should be put to death. As
far as I'm cerned, I have no problem with that.
That's number one. Number Two, obviously, to the Hoffman's. I
hope that they end up recovering and they'll be well.
They end up well and they'll recuperate as well. So
my heart goes out to them and what they've had
to endure and experience and the violence and the rhetoric.
(02:31):
This is not isolated along party lines. Both sides of
the political eye has engaged in rhetoric. I'm not gonna
say stirring or inciting violence, but certainly the rhetoric has
been harsh. And this is what I try to tell
people in America all the time and beyond when we're
talking about these issues. I cover sports for a living
(02:52):
as my day job. Ladies and gentlemen, people get passionate
about sports. If people get passionate about a game where
folks win and folks lose, even when they're not gambling
on it, they're not losing money on it, They're just
emotionally invested in their particular team and the outcome. What
do you think they feel about the economy if it
(03:14):
detrimentally affects them. What do you think they're thinking about
representatives When it involves immigration, when.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It involves healthcare, when it involves education.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You're talking about people's lives, quality of life.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Being impacted by elected officials.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
This is why I continuously point out how the rhetoric
has to die down.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
We got to agree to disagree.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
We can disagree without being so disagreeable, without engaging in
a kind of incendiary rhetoric where we're constantly pointing a
figure at one side or another, showing an inability to
work together, or at least giving that impression, and then
wondering how stuff like this could happen. According to the police,
and according to the reports, mister Boulter had a manifesto
(04:06):
in a vehicle that he was driving by the way,
which was disguised as a police vehicle, and he had
on a police outfit, according to the reports, and they
said in a manifesto he had targeted over seventy people.
Some were politicians, some were pro abortion advocates. So you
(04:27):
have to take those things into consideration and wonder, in
God's name, what do you think is going to happen
if you're talking about people like that and you're pointing
the finger of blaming and you're not giving the impression
we're discussing.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
When negotiating, we're getting along.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Everybody can't have everything that they want, but we're aligned
in some of our thinking. Half the time they're agreeing
with one another on both sides of the aisle.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
They don't even tell us. And then you wonder.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
How you have some people on the fringes, particularly the extremists,
and what they're going to do. One of the things
that somebody pointed out, and they pointed this out, and
I had to remember this. One person texted me they said,
did you see the expression on a god's face when
they caught him talking about Bolter? They said, did you
(05:17):
see the facial expression on the guy who shot.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Up the embassy weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Did you see the god's face who shot up the healthcare?
Who shot the healthcare ceo Luigi when they caught him,
They said, did you see how extremists looks?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Stephen A calm? Calm?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
So we have to fight extremism. We have to fight
stuff on the fringes on both sides of the aisle.
We have to make sure that there's a line that
everybody knows should never be crossed.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yes, it's happened throughout history.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
President Reagan got shot, Abraham Lincoln got shot. Folks in
between got shot. We got that part. Steve Calise, representative,
he got shot. All of these things. The former representative
in Arizona.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
She got shot.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The point is not normalizing it, not walking around like
it's okay now as it pertains to what's been going
on in the streets of America. We're talking about Trump
and the Trump administration celebrating two hundred and fifty years
of the army, perfectly within his right to do so.
But let's be real, it was a bit over the
(06:38):
top showing America's might. In America's strength, well, if we
know we have it, why do we need to show off.
We're considered the richest most powerful country in the world.
Right everybody knows. Everybody knows our military might. Why do
we need to showcase it?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And why did it have.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
To coincide on the seventy ninth birthday of the forty
seventh President of the United States? Was it about our
nation or was it about him? No matter how much
he tried to say it wasn't. The flip side to it, however,
is that on a day when that parade was taking place,
there were thousands upon thousands of protesters across the United
(07:19):
States of America, New York, LA, and every place in between.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
And it was supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
In Minnesota until the police was asking folks not to
attend because the shooter was still on the loose, And
what were they protesting.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
ICE and migrants.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Being grabbed in the streets by members of ICE in
an effort to ultimately deport them.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And folks were coming to the defense of it.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You had the State of California suing the Trump administration.
You have people talk about no kings, no kings. He's
not a dictator. This is not an authoritarian regime. But
that's why he's trying to make it like, well, really,
that's why the state's suing him. That's why he's losing
some of these cases in court. Last time I check.
You're in a position of power, you try to get
(08:11):
your way, somebody sues you. They fend you off by
going through our court system. The court system makes it ruling,
and as a result, it shows that our system works.
What is Trump doing differently than what he campaign doing.
You may not like it, that's why you win the election.
So he's not in a position to do it as
opposed to focusing on stuff that they gonna win an election.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
And then I talk to some folks on that.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Side of the aisle, and these are the kind of
messages that I'm getting. It's the Democrats only way to
be relevant. They have no answers to help Americans. They
don't go over the top four American criminals. Our prisons
are full of people separated.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
From their families. They didn't say anything about those folks.
Most of the leaders of the protest are paid agitators.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
You get into d Iran is Raeli conflict something else
that the United States can end up in the middle
of because Israel ain't playing games. They're going after all
of their enemies. They're not playing games. We already seen
what they've done in Gaza. We know how they're trying
to disarm Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon, and
(09:20):
they're hell been on doing so. We know that we
were in negotiations with Iran and ultimately we scaled that back,
and then all of a sudden, Israel attacks.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Now you've got.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Officials from Iran saying there's no reason to have talks
because there's no way that America didn't know about this
and that this was coming, etc.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
With all of that going on, then you have folks
on the right saying, what's new.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Destroying Iran's and military nuclear sites is a good thing.
We'll also destroy destroy Hesbalah and hamas Isis as well,
being that they were funded by Iran. So every time
you sit there you throw some something in the direction,
the other side has something to say no matter which
way you slice it. In the end, America is in
(10:11):
a quadary at some point in time gonna have to
come together. You don't have to like everything about Trump.
I don't like what he's doing in California. I don't
like what he's doing with the migrants. I don't like
it at all. And I think that he caught himself
because he mandated a pause on the raids when it
(10:34):
came to agriculture, hotels, restaurants, et cetera. Because those business
were being detrimentally affected. And he's gonna need those folks
support in him, particularly in the midterms. So you can
make sure the GLP members remember it remaining in the House,
in the Senate. But in the end, what it comes
down to is that is he overstepping his hand. Probably so,
(10:56):
But to the right, he's doing what he campaigned on,
so in their eyes, he's keeping his word. They don't
mind that because they don't believe politicians on the left.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Have done that.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
No matter which way you slice it, it's an absolute mess.
We got Israel and Iran going at it over two
hundred and fifty missiles being dropped on one another. We
still got the conflict with Hamas and the Gaza in
the Gaza Strip. We still see that going on. We
(11:30):
got a terriff situation here. You know what folks are
gonna say, right the right, terrorf's ten trillion in investments
from manufacturing in auto pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
That's what they're gonna say.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
They're gonna say, already a new threat about to be
finished for our lifetime. Save us from a modern day holocaust,
That's what they're gonna say. Whatever point the left is
gonna have, the right is gonna have a counterpoint to
justify anything that Trump is doing. Where's the solution? Can't
see one in sight. Here's the biggest problem. Peace is
(12:05):
not a part of this equation. Even within our own borders,
we're at each other's throat, no sight of coming together
in sight. It's pretty bad right now, and it looks
to be getting worse.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens.
Let's get started.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
In Minnesota, where there were two shootings, both of which
appeared to have been politically motivated by a man arrested
late last night. Officials said the gunman, posing as a
police officer, fatally shot State Representative Melissa Hortman and her
husband's Saturday at their home. That shooting came after he
wounded State Senator John Hoffman and his wife at their home.
(00:28):
After the first attack, police said they proactively checked on
Representative Hortman's home, where they found a shooter posing as an.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Officer before he fled.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
The suspect, Vance Bolter is his name, was arrested Sunday
after what a local police chief called the largest manhunt
in state's history. Bolter is charged with two counts each
of second degree murder and second degree attempted murder, which
are likely to be upgraded at first degree. Bolter is
also being charged in federal court with one cat ount
(01:00):
of stalking Representative Hortman, one count of stalking Senator Hoffman,
two counts of murder through use of a firearm punishable
up to death by the way, and two counts of
firearms offenses for the shootings of the Hoffman's The shootings
happened Saturday, in what turned out to be a tense
day in national politics. Thousands of people across the country
(01:23):
participated in No King's protest against the Trump administration. All
this while the president himself hosted a military parade celebrating
two hundred and fifty years of the army in Washington,
d C. Couple of things to get out of the way.
Number One, my condolences to loved ones of the Hortman's. Obviously,
(01:47):
that is a tragedy and unspeakable tragedy, something none of
us should condone. We should cheer, we should celebrate in
any way. It's heinous as it comes. As far as
I'm concerned, if this is indeed the assailant one who
committed this crime, mister Bolter, I have no problem with
him receiving the death penalty whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Let's get that out of the way first.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I'm a believer in that under special circumstances, this is
one of them, he should be put to death. As
far as I'm cerned, I have no problem with that.
That's number one. Number Two, obviously, to the Hoffman's. I
hope that they end up recovering and they'll be well.
They end up well and they'll recuperate as well. So
my heart goes out to them and what they've had
to endure and experience and the violence and the rhetoric.
(02:31):
This is not isolated along party lines. Both sides of
the political eye has engaged in rhetoric. I'm not gonna
say stirring or inciting violence, but certainly the rhetoric has
been harsh. And this is what I try to tell
people in America all the time and beyond when we're
talking about these issues. I cover sports for a living
(02:52):
as my day job. Ladies and gentlemen, people get passionate
about sports. If people get passionate about a game where
folks win and folks lose, even when they're not gambling
on it, they're not losing money on it, They're just
emotionally invested in their particular team and the outcome. What
do you think they feel about the economy if it
(03:14):
detrimentally affects them. What do you think they're thinking about
representatives When it involves immigration, when.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It involves healthcare, when it involves education.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You're talking about people's lives, quality of life.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Being impacted by elected officials.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
This is why I continuously point out how the rhetoric
has to die down.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
We got to agree to disagree.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
We can disagree without being so disagreeable, without engaging in
a kind of incendiary rhetoric where we're constantly pointing a
figure at one side or another, showing an inability to
work together, or at least giving that impression, and then
wondering how stuff like this could happen. According to the police,
and according to the reports, mister Boulter had a manifesto
(04:06):
in a vehicle that he was driving by the way,
which was disguised as a police vehicle, and he had
on a police outfit, according to the reports, and they
said in a manifesto he had targeted over seventy people.
Some were politicians, some were pro abortion advocates. So you
(04:27):
have to take those things into consideration and wonder, in
God's name, what do you think is going to happen
if you're talking about people like that and you're pointing
the finger of blaming and you're not giving the impression
we're discussing.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
When negotiating, we're getting along.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Everybody can't have everything that they want, but we're aligned
in some of our thinking. Half the time they're agreeing
with one another on both sides of the aisle.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
They don't even tell us. And then you wonder.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
How you have some people on the fringes, particularly the extremists,
and what they're going to do. One of the things
that somebody pointed out, and they pointed this out, and
I had to remember this. One person texted me they said,
did you see the expression on a god's face when
they caught him talking about Bolter? They said, did you
(05:17):
see the facial expression on the guy who shot.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Up the embassy weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Did you see the god's face who shot up the healthcare?
Who shot the healthcare ceo Luigi when they caught him,
They said, did you see how extremists looks?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Stephen A calm? Calm?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
So we have to fight extremism. We have to fight
stuff on the fringes on both sides of the aisle.
We have to make sure that there's a line that
everybody knows should never be crossed.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yes, it's happened throughout history.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
President Reagan got shot, Abraham Lincoln got shot. Folks in
between got shot. We got that part. Steve Calise, representative,
he got shot. All of these things. The former representative
in Arizona.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
She got shot.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The point is not normalizing it, not walking around like
it's okay now as it pertains to what's been going
on in the streets of America. We're talking about Trump
and the Trump administration celebrating two hundred and fifty years
of the army, perfectly within his right to do so.
But let's be real, it was a bit over the
(06:38):
top showing America's might. In America's strength, well, if we
know we have it, why do we need to show off.
We're considered the richest most powerful country in the world.
Right everybody knows. Everybody knows our military might. Why do
we need to showcase it?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And why did it have.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
To coincide on the seventy ninth birthday of the forty
seventh President of the United States? Was it about our
nation or was it about him? No matter how much
he tried to say it wasn't. The flip side to it, however,
is that on a day when that parade was taking place,
there were thousands upon thousands of protesters across the United
(07:19):
States of America, New York, LA, and every place in between.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
And it was supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
In Minnesota until the police was asking folks not to
attend because the shooter was still on the loose, And
what were they protesting.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
ICE and migrants.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Being grabbed in the streets by members of ICE in
an effort to ultimately deport them.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And folks were coming to the defense of it.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You had the State of California suing the Trump administration.
You have people talk about no kings, no kings. He's
not a dictator. This is not an authoritarian regime. But
that's why he's trying to make it like, well, really,
that's why the state's suing him. That's why he's losing
some of these cases in court. Last time I check.
You're in a position of power, you try to get
(08:11):
your way, somebody sues you. They fend you off by
going through our court system. The court system makes it ruling,
and as a result, it shows that our system works.
What is Trump doing differently than what he campaign doing.
You may not like it, that's why you win the election.
So he's not in a position to do it as
opposed to focusing on stuff that they gonna win an election.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
And then I talk to some folks on that.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Side of the aisle, and these are the kind of
messages that I'm getting. It's the Democrats only way to
be relevant. They have no answers to help Americans. They
don't go over the top four American criminals. Our prisons
are full of people separated.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
From their families. They didn't say anything about those folks.
Most of the leaders of the protest are paid agitators.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
You get into d Iran is Raeli conflict something else
that the United States can end up in the middle
of because Israel ain't playing games. They're going after all
of their enemies. They're not playing games. We already seen
what they've done in Gaza. We know how they're trying
to disarm Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon, and
(09:20):
they're hell been on doing so. We know that we
were in negotiations with Iran and ultimately we scaled that back,
and then all of a sudden, Israel attacks.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Now you've got.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Officials from Iran saying there's no reason to have talks
because there's no way that America didn't know about this
and that this was coming, etc.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
With all of that going on, then you have folks
on the right saying, what's new.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Destroying Iran's and military nuclear sites is a good thing.
We'll also destroy destroy Hesbalah and hamas Isis as well,
being that they were funded by Iran. So every time
you sit there you throw some something in the direction,
the other side has something to say no matter which
way you slice it. In the end, America is in
(10:11):
a quadary at some point in time gonna have to
come together. You don't have to like everything about Trump.
I don't like what he's doing in California. I don't
like what he's doing with the migrants. I don't like
it at all. And I think that he caught himself
because he mandated a pause on the raids when it
(10:34):
came to agriculture, hotels, restaurants, et cetera. Because those business
were being detrimentally affected. And he's gonna need those folks
support in him, particularly in the midterms. So you can
make sure the GLP members remember it remaining in the House,
in the Senate. But in the end, what it comes
down to is that is he overstepping his hand. Probably so,
(10:56):
But to the right, he's doing what he campaigned on,
so in their eyes, he's keeping his word. They don't
mind that because they don't believe politicians on the left.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Have done that.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
No matter which way you slice it, it's an absolute mess.
We got Israel and Iran going at it over two
hundred and fifty missiles being dropped on one another. We
still got the conflict with Hamas and the Gaza in
the Gaza Strip. We still see that going on. We
(11:30):
got a terriff situation here. You know what folks are
gonna say, right the right, terrorf's ten trillion in investments
from manufacturing in auto pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
That's what they're gonna say.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
They're gonna say, already a new threat about to be
finished for our lifetime. Save us from a modern day holocaust,
That's what they're gonna say. Whatever point the left is
gonna have, the right is gonna have a counterpoint to
justify anything that Trump is doing. Where's the solution? Can't
see one in sight. Here's the biggest problem. Peace is
(12:05):
not a part of this equation. Even within our own borders,
we're at each other's throat, no sight of coming together
in sight. It's pretty bad right now, and it looks
to be getting worse.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens.
Host
Stephen A. Smith
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