‘Respect The Competition’: Stephen A. Smith Says Left Got Too Comfortable ‘Vilifying’ And ‘Denigrating’ Republicans

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith told SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly on Monday that Democrats have grown too comfortable with “vilifying” and “denigrating” Republicans.

Since President Donald Trump’s election, Democrats have struggled to craft a unifying message, hitting a new record-low favorability rating, according to a recent CNN/SSRS poll. On “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Smith and Kelly discussed a clip of New York Times columnist Ezra Klein claiming voters who “follow the news” vote Democrat, while those who don’t vote solely for Trump.

Kelly called Klein’s remark “deeply offensive” before citing data on news consumption among voters on both sides, prompting Smith to compare Klein’s comment to calling Republicans “deplorables.”

“But what the left has gotten accustomed to doing is vilifying you and denigrating you if you don’t agree with them. That’s why the young voters turned against them,” Smith said. “You’re a parent. I’m a parent. This is very, very simple. Talk to a kid. Talk to a youngster. Even in the throes of trying to teach them or discipline them, call them an idiot and then ask yourself, ‘How often are they going to listen to you? How often are they going to even come in front of you to hear what you have to say?’”

“Yet somehow, some way, folks on the left don’t get this. I’ve said to them on many occasions, I said, ‘Listen,’ over the last few months. I said, ‘I’m not saying you sit idly by and be mute. But in the same breath, the man won the election. OK? See what he’s going to do. Speak against what you want to speak against in an effort to try to win the midterms, OK? Outside of that, that’s your only recourse,’” Smith added.

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