Stephen A. Smith says he’s ‘salty’ with Michelle Obama and criticizes her past Trump remarks

After Smith came up as a topic on her podcast and she critiqued his hosting, the sports host revealed he is still “salty” with the former First Lady for a speech last fall addressing men in favor of Kamala Harris.

Stephen A. Smith claims that First Lady Michelle Obama “clapped” at him and is responding by saying he’s “salty” with her.

Earlier this week, Obama said on her podcast “IMO” that watching Smith’s network home of ESPN is like watching the Bravo franchise, making an analogy about the state of sports entertainment and saying it’s all “sociological drama.”

“If I listen to ESPN for an hour, it’s like watching ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ she said to her guests, “Las Culturistas” podcast hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. “I mean, Stephen A. Smith, he’s like every other talk show host.”

It wasn’t Obama, but Rogers who suggested that Smith would make a great Real Housewife, which Obama agreed to.

Smith responded to the comments in a segment of his YouTube show, “Stephen A. Smith Show,” with quite a few thoughts.

“I would like to see you have some people on your podcast with dissenting opinions,” Smith said. “So they could have an opportunity to clap back.”

He addressed the Bravo comparison, even calling Bravo host Andy Cohen a “highly successful individual,” and also saying sports and reality TV are nothing alike, and that Obama was “so wrong about that assertion.”

But what Smith really wanted the opportunity to do was to respond to Obama’s comments last fall when she was campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran against President Donald Trump. In a speech talking about reproductive rights, Obama addressed men, saying that a vote for Trump is “a vote against us.” Smith said he took “major offense” to that remark.

“While you are revered to me personally, I’m still a bit salty at you,” Smith said. “Black men don’t just love our Black women, we revere y’all. To say what you said back then, I think to this day is the only thing I didn’t like that you said. I didn’t appreciate it.”

“Because there’s so many things that go into deciding where your vote is going to go. For some people, it’s all about the economy. For others, it’s all about national security. For some people, it is immigration. For some people, it’s safety in the streets of America. Long before they think about pro-choice or pro-life.”

He also expressed that he was unhappy with Barack Obama for making similar comments to Black men who support Trump.

“To blackmail us emotionally to try to compel us to vote one way or another is part of what won Trump the election,” Smith said.

Smith has previously expressed his interest in running for president and has been critical of the Democratic Party.