Stephen A's Take: Stephen A responds to Springsteen's anti-Trump rant. Trump alleging Harris made illegal payouts to celebrities.

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Now let's get to DC for a variety of reasons,
by the way, but first we'll start where President Trump
is calling for an investigation into the high profile endorsements
of Kamala Harris during the twenty twenty four campaign. The
move comes after Bruce Springsteen criticized the president last week
during his European tour. Springsteen called the Trump administration quote corrupt, incompetent,

(00:24):
in treason us in front of a live audience. President
Trump didn't take those words too kindly and went on
truth social with the following quote, how much did Kamala
Harris pay Bruce Springsteen for his poor performance during her
campaign for president? Why did he accept that money if
he is such a fan of hers, isn't that a
major and illegal campaign contribution? What about Beyonce and how

(00:47):
much went to Oprah and Bono? I'm going to call
for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren't allowed
to pay for endorsements, which is what Kamala did, the
guys of paying for entertainment.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
In addition, this was a very expensive and.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Desperate effort to artificially build up sparse crowds. It's not
legal for these unpatriotic entertainers. This was just a corrupt
and unlawful way to capitalize.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
On a broken system. Thank you for your attention to
this matter. End quote. The post from Trump.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Revives previous accusations that the Harbers campaign paid Oprah Winfrey
and others for campaign appearances and endorsements of the Democratic nominee.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Here's the deal. A couple of things to point out.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
First of all, I want to say this, I think
calling for an investigation is a bit extreme just because
somebody says something negatively about you, mister president. I think
you got bigger fish to fry and more important things
to matter. You still got the tariff war going on.
I know there's a ninety day of reprieve with you
in China and US in China rather than I get

(01:56):
that part of Ukraine and Russia calling for an immediate
cease fire according to you, still important matters. There's really
a mass conflict of what's happening the folks, the Palestinian
women and children and stuff like that, and you having
to resolve that issue, or Israel and Hamas Iran being involved.
A ma Siene is a proxy to Iran.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
We get all that.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
There's a lot of stuff to deal with man, This
ain't that important. So using the word investigation and saying
that you're going to call for it is a bit
extreme and dare I say dictatorial and unnecessary.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Period.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Having said that, let me articulate that I don't disagree
with President Trump about everything he said. I do think
there's something to be said about going outside of this
country and speaking about this country and its president administration
that way.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Let other people say that.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
But you being an entertainer going across the world, going
across the ocean wherever Bruce Springsteen was, and I forget
for the moment where he was, and speaking against the
president of the United States that way is problematic. Perfect
to give you a hypothetical, Stephen A. Smith has been outspoken.

(03:24):
But if I'm overseas in France, Europe, Switzerland, or wherever
I'm a Germany or some place, I'm not gonna be
sitting in a foreign country talking about my president that way.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Even if I didn't vote for him.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
He's still a president of the United States, and I'm
not gonna go.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Someplace else speaking about him that way.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
I might touch the issues, and I'm not saying you
can't disagree with him I'm not saying that you don't
like a policy or in abundance of policies. Well, I
don't like the terror. You can say I don't like
the tariffs. You can say I don't like what's going
on with the war. You can say I don't like
the state of our economy. You don't say I don't
like the state of our politics. But when you say corrupt,
inept and stuff like that on foreign soil, I don't

(04:25):
have a problem with the President having a problem with that.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
There's a time and place for every truth, Michael Aaron Sherry.
There's a time and a place.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
We're not debating truth or falsehood here, we're saying, if
you are an American, if you were about the red, white,
and blue, there's certain places you don't go and speak
that way. There's a time and place for everything. Bruce
Bringstey knows that better than anybody. Every truths ain't meant

(05:01):
to be told at every single time disshert things you
don't do as it pertains to Kamala Harris and a
Democratic Party paying folks to endorse them. This is not
the first time those stories have been broached. Remember of
Oprah's production company and what it purportedly received. Remember, even

(05:26):
though there's no evidence that Beyonce was paid the dime,
Remember what they were saying about her in terms of
the connection and how the Harris campaign was able to
convince her to endorse her publicly. We've seen a bevy
of folks in Hollywood speaking out for Kamala Harris. But

(05:47):
we also knew that they had spent about one point
five billion dollars, and we're asking ourselves where that money went.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
And who got some of it and for what purpose.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Those are the legitimate questions, whether we like it or not,
whether we like it or not. So again, I think
the president should have bigger fish to fry. I don't
think this should be a focal point, and I do
think he comes across as a bit dictatorial responding to

(06:21):
Bruce Bringstein that way, However, don't sit here and say
definitively he's wrong. We don't know that, not with all
the lies we've heard the Democratic Party.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Tell talk about us. So let's just get that out
the way right now.