Stephen A. Smith criticized Jill Biden after she revealed that she feared Joe Biden may have been “having a stroke” during his widely criticized 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump. In a Sunday interview on CBS Sunday Morning, the former first lady said she was “scared to death” while watching the debate and had never seen her husband appear that way before. Her comments reignited debate over the Biden campaign’s handling of the race and the president’s physical and mental fitness during the election.
Smith discussed the interview on Andrew Cuomo’s WABC radio program, Pulse of the People, saying Jill Biden’s remarks deeply disturbed him. He argued that the admission highlighted what he sees as a broader pattern of dishonesty and poor transparency from Democrats during the 2024 campaign. In his view, party leaders were not open about Biden’s condition and tried to shape the public narrative instead of addressing concerns directly.
The ESPN commentator also criticized Joe Biden for initially seeking another term despite growing concerns about his decline. He said Democrats had a chance to pressure Biden to step aside earlier, which would have allowed for a proper primary contest and a stronger process for choosing a nominee. Instead, Biden withdrew too late for a full competitive primary, and Vice President Kamala Harris was quickly elevated as the party’s candidate with only months left to campaign.
Smith said his objection was not that Harris was the wrong choice, but that the process used to install her as the nominee was flawed. He argued that bypassing a primary undermined confidence in the Democratic Party and left voters without a normal selection process. According to Smith, that sequence damaged the party’s credibility at a crucial moment.
Cuomo agreed that the lack of openness about Biden’s health hurt Democrats politically, saying it weakened the party’s reputation for truthfulness and courage. The discussion added to the continuing fallout from Biden’s debate performance, which sparked intense scrutiny over whether his campaign should have ended sooner.
Although Smith is best known as a sports broadcaster for ESPN, he has increasingly spoken about politics on his own platforms. He has previously considered a run for president in 2028, though he later dismissed that possibility. His latest comments show that he remains willing to weigh in forcefully on national political issues, especially when he believes party leadership has mishandled a major public crisis.
