Pundit Stephen A. Smith apologized this week for comments he made criticizing Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and her approach to politics.
Smith, in his previous remarks, had described language Crockett has used to blast Republicans as “rhetoric for the streets” and questioned how it would serve the people in her district.
The comments sparked swift backlash and calls by some on social media for Smith to be removed from his several media perches, including a SiriusXM radio show and ESPN morning talk program “First Take.”
Smith, who previously called attempts to “cancel” him over the remarks “immature,” apologized on his SiriusXM show on Wednesday.
“I get it now, with [President] Trump feeding into that nonsense, giving him fodder or ammunition, to continue to go out there and talk about our Black women that way. I got it. I don’t like that at all. I don’t want to be associated with nothing like that, and I apologize because I respect the hell out of Jasmine Crockett and what she has accomplished,” Smith said in comments first highlighted by Mediaite. “I absolutely do. And I appreciate the fact that she feels compelled to fight the way that she’s fought, the way that she fights because of what she’s dealing with.”
Smith, a former sports journalist and longtime cable commentator, has been increasingly outspoken on political issues in recent months.
That turn has fueled speculation he might one day run for president, a suggestion the analyst and host has repeatedly dismissed.
