Valuetainment - November 19, 2025


＂Chuck Schumer & AOC Won’t Show Up!＂ - Stephen A. Smith TORCHES Democrats For DODGING Debate


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

202.21663

Word Count

2,676

Sentence Count

275

Misogynist Sentences

3


Summary

Stephen A. Smith breaks silence over criticism that his political views are interfering with his $20M a year ESPN role. The First State co-signed a $100M deal with the network earlier this year, but Smith has also become increasingly political, even floating a possible presidential run.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Stephen A. Smith. Stephen A. Smith breaks silence over criticism that his political views are interfering with the $20 million a year ESPN role, okay?
00:00:10.920 Interfering with his $20 million a year ESPN role. What are they talking about? Okay, let me read this to you.
00:00:18.240 So the First State co-signed a $100 million deal with the network earlier, but Smith has also become increasingly political, even floating a possible run for president.
00:00:25.260 In addition to his work with ESPN, Smith is a prominent figure at SiriusXM, hosting a daily sports show and weekly political show, while he also hosts a YouTube show.
00:00:34.920 On Friday, Smith was asked whether he ever worries that his ESPN fans might be turned off by his political views, but the host said he believes that, in fact, his approach turns people on and is one of the reasons why his audience has grown.
00:00:46.980 I don't worry about it because, first of all, it's politics, it's sports. Rob, do you have that clip?
00:00:50.720 I'm looking for it.
00:00:51.980 See if it's on Twitter. I'm trying to see where the story is at, Daily Mail. They probably would have that in that story as well.
00:00:59.280 I don't bring it to ESPN. Thirdly, most importantly, I think it's important to remember that I'm a reasonable human being.
00:01:04.560 What I do when I'm talking politics is what I do when I'm doing everything.
00:01:08.860 I let you know how I feel and where I stand based on the facts that I presented to me, but I'm open-minded to be corrected,
00:01:15.480 which means I'm willing to engage in dialogue and I'm willing to talk with the other people, talk with people and hear what they have to say.
00:01:23.460 Adam, your thoughts on the story?
00:01:24.660 I mean, Stephen A. Smith is one of the most necessary voices we have in America, and I love what he said here.
00:01:29.500 He's reasonable. He's willing to engage with everybody, and if he's wrong, he'll say he's wrong.
00:01:35.400 Now, Stephen A. Smith, a lot of this fodder is coming after he signed this massive contract because we've become friends with Stephen A. Smith.
00:01:43.480 I got a massive respect for him. I feel like he bit his tongue for a while, as much as he could, even during political season,
00:01:50.780 as that contract negotiations were playing out, which felt like years in the making.
00:01:55.580 But do I think he's running for any form of government? Zero percent. That's my opinion. Could be wrong.
00:02:01.240 Zero? It's almost like saying a hundred percent, Adam.
00:02:03.080 I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't think he's going to do this.
00:02:07.880 I think he's a necessary voice in what he's doing. He's a sports guy first,
00:02:11.420 but also recognizes that his voice carries a lot of weight, so he can glean in on politics.
00:02:17.020 He can glean in on current events. He can talk about culture.
00:02:20.620 He's got a very good ticker on what the American public stands for,
00:02:25.200 and I'm a full advocate of saying what he has to say.
00:02:27.920 Vinny?
00:02:29.340 Listen, I'm going to be real.
00:02:32.280 I used to be the biggest sports maniac, whatever.
00:02:34.580 Like, it's the dichotomy of something that's so, if you think about it, in the scheme of life and the world,
00:02:41.040 and sports is meaningless.
00:02:42.960 It's like duck-duck goose with kids could be on ESPN.
00:02:45.960 It's not going to change the outcome of the world.
00:02:48.080 What he's doing on the political side, I actually love, because to me, he's had this, like, revelation.
00:02:53.620 He's actually seen what's going on.
00:02:54.900 He actually complained.
00:02:56.020 On his show, he invited everybody.
00:02:58.300 He goes, the difference between Republicans and Democrats, every Republican I've invited on the show comes on the show.
00:03:05.700 He goes, Chuck Schumer, I've invited how many times?
00:03:08.300 Rob, do you have that clip where he says he's invited all these Democrats and none of them show?
00:03:13.220 The one thing that bothered me, he said the show is friends with Hakeem Jeffries, of all people.
00:03:17.540 I don't know what you have in common with Hakeem Jeffries, but is this it, Rob?
00:03:20.900 Yep.
00:03:21.320 Look back.
00:03:23.500 Invited on this show for four months.
00:03:26.040 Democrats.
00:03:26.440 AOC has been invited on this show for four months.
00:03:31.860 Gavin Newsom has been invited on this show for longer than that.
00:03:38.700 Props to Hakeem Jeffries.
00:03:40.260 He's a friend of the show.
00:03:41.260 Always welcome on here.
00:03:42.540 I like that man.
00:03:44.080 I respect him.
00:03:45.040 God knows why.
00:03:45.780 Chuck Schumer's been invited on this show.
00:03:47.380 Hasn't shown up.
00:03:48.360 He's grilling cheeseburgers with no fire.
00:03:54.000 Yeah.
00:03:54.520 Where they at?
00:03:54.940 Yeah, where they at?
00:03:56.040 Compositor.
00:03:56.360 None of them.
00:03:56.860 Tom, your thoughts.
00:03:57.480 That was a long pause right there.
00:03:58.040 Very long pause.
00:03:58.560 It's an adipause.
00:03:59.220 Go ahead.
00:04:00.620 Look, you know what I find really interesting about Stephen A. is that when his contract
00:04:10.380 was announced, he said this.
00:04:13.140 He said, I'm looking forward to doing a once a week more political show over on Sirius.
00:04:17.820 And he had a little logo for the one on Sirius.
00:04:20.240 He's got the little American flag with width.
00:04:22.420 And so he's like, I'm going to be speaking to the middle.
00:04:25.620 Now, the middle to some people is different than the others.
00:04:28.980 But he said he was doing this.
00:04:30.940 He said, ESPN has given me the opportunity to do the Sirius show here and then to do the
00:04:37.460 first take show here.
00:04:38.280 So why is this shocking?
00:04:39.960 I'll tell you why it's shocking.
00:04:41.040 Because there's some people that are probably texting him privately from the one side of
00:04:46.520 the aisle that are lying.
00:04:48.580 Hey, man, why do you give anybody a platform?
00:04:51.740 Why do you give this guy a platform?
00:04:53.220 Give this guy.
00:04:53.680 It's the same thing that Pat gets when certain people sit in the chair.
00:04:57.560 Hey, why are you giving a platform to that guy?
00:04:59.580 Because you think Pat gets those kind of messages?
00:05:01.520 No way.
00:05:02.160 Oh, my gosh.
00:05:03.480 Let me tell you.
00:05:04.340 No way.
00:05:04.800 If Stephen A. Smith, I'll say this.
00:05:07.780 I like Stephen A., but I'll say this.
00:05:09.900 If Stephen A. Smith got half of the level of vitriol and messages that Pat gets, I'm
00:05:15.700 wondering if in the contract he would have asked for the carve-out to do a Friday show.
00:05:19.560 You know what?
00:05:20.280 Maybe I'll just do first take, take the big contract and go.
00:05:23.980 Because this is pretty, pretty, pretty heavy.
00:05:27.080 But I look at it this way.
00:05:29.420 What he just said, I'm trying to invite everybody.
00:05:32.620 And then there's still people saying, why would you say that?
00:05:35.140 Are you running?
00:05:35.920 Are you doing this?
00:05:36.980 Wait a minute.
00:05:37.820 I wanted to express myself.
00:05:39.580 Yeah.
00:05:40.180 As Michael Jordan said, Republicans buy shoes, too.
00:05:44.000 Buy sneakers, too.
00:05:45.180 So Stephen A. Smith, I'll do a political show and I'll talk to everybody.
00:05:48.020 Hey, Tom, one thing.
00:05:48.760 And suddenly this is a news flash and he's got to give excuses for himself.
00:05:51.100 Tom, let me echo one thing.
00:05:52.360 You're absolutely right.
00:05:53.040 He said this.
00:05:53.560 But more importantly, ESPN and Disney knew this ahead of time.
00:05:56.900 Of course they did.
00:05:57.580 I think this came up in their contract negotiation.
00:05:59.520 Hey, by the way, this YouTube show that you got going on, talking about politics.
00:06:02.580 Before you sign this contract, here are the rules of engagement.
00:06:05.080 You got it.
00:06:05.500 You got it.
00:06:05.800 You got it.
00:06:06.040 I guarantee you that's part of the contract.
00:06:07.420 And maybe it took this long.
00:06:08.420 I guarantee you.
00:06:08.980 And they said we are comfortable with this as long as you do this on your own channel
00:06:12.860 and you don't bring politics to ESPN.
00:06:14.960 The rules of engagement were already there.
00:06:16.440 And by the way, the haters are going to hate.
00:06:18.080 He's like the Deion Sanders of this politics and the sports.
00:06:22.700 You're talking about prime time.
00:06:23.860 I'm telling you right now, Stephen A. could go in on sports and then guess what?
00:06:28.660 Take this hat, turn it, boom, and go politics.
00:06:30.920 And he's nasty at both.
00:06:32.100 And they're just going to hate.
00:06:32.920 But he does not know basketball more than P.B.D. and me.
00:06:35.120 Not than Patrick McDavid and Adam Sonson.
00:06:37.520 We know that.
00:06:38.160 P.B.D.
00:06:38.320 Come on.
00:06:38.720 Can you reaffirm that?
00:06:39.760 Don't go there.
00:06:40.320 Stop it.
00:06:40.820 Let's not go there.
00:06:41.440 You're going to ask me questions about basketball.
00:06:44.000 Did you see what happened with Patrick Beverly?
00:06:46.480 Did you see what happened?
00:06:47.000 He got arrested?
00:06:47.820 His underage 18, under 18-year-old daughter.
00:06:51.380 Is she under 18 or was she 18?
00:06:52.640 She was under 18.
00:06:53.860 Yeah.
00:06:54.380 Came home with another guy over 18.
00:06:57.480 And apparently she beat the living crap out of him.
00:06:59.060 Oh, Beverly.
00:06:59.760 What do you mean she beat the crap out of him?
00:07:01.000 No, no, no.
00:07:01.440 Former arrester of charges and Texas family violence.
00:07:04.380 And 37 years old, was arrested on Friday at home in $40,000.
00:07:08.960 The association with Patrick Gould, a little bit lower.
00:07:10.500 Y'all pray for the family.
00:07:11.620 Love.
00:07:11.920 Patrick Beverly has no criminal records.
00:07:13.720 Given that, when he unexpectedly found her alone in the home with an 18-year-old man
00:07:19.600 in the middle of the night, he was understandably concerned.
00:07:22.780 Concerned.
00:07:23.300 Younger sister.
00:07:24.620 A minor.
00:07:25.180 Oh, minor.
00:07:25.680 So he found.
00:07:26.240 So he did what he did.
00:07:27.560 Go a little bit low, Rob.
00:07:28.860 Did you see anything else there?
00:07:30.180 Him downstairs.
00:07:30.700 Yeah, so Pat Beverly.
00:07:31.600 By the way, every team needs a Pat Beverly.
00:07:33.280 You need a Pat Beverly.
00:07:34.160 I love that guy.
00:07:34.400 It's the most.
00:07:35.200 He's a G.
00:07:35.860 BBD, back to Stephen A.
00:07:37.600 You helped Stephen A in this process, I want to say.
00:07:39.920 He gave you credit.
00:07:40.820 He did give me credit, but, you know, he and I, I speak to a lot of guys when it comes
00:07:44.000 down to contracts, okay?
00:07:45.360 Brett Baer.
00:07:46.480 No, but anyways.
00:07:48.480 Sometimes on stage.
00:07:49.980 Yeah, but going back to this with Stephen A, to me is, look, he's at a phase of his life
00:07:56.800 that he can't help himself talk about this stuff, and he wants to talk about it, and
00:08:00.380 he does it in a respectful way, and I'm glad he's doing it.
00:08:03.300 I support the fact that he's doing it, and ESPN knew going into it that he was doing it
00:08:08.140 when they signed him.
00:08:08.760 You guys already said this.
00:08:09.680 So, I'd like to make an announcement.
00:08:11.260 Folks, we're doing something crazy, and let me tell you what this crazy thing is.
00:08:14.880 You know what this is?
00:08:16.040 This is what you call a mystery box, okay?
00:08:18.840 200 of you are going to get this mystery box, and I'm going to tell you who this mystery
00:08:22.600 box is going to go to, what items in it that are very, very unique.
00:08:27.800 If you're watching this right now, and you want to have a Merry Christmas and get some
00:08:33.060 people some special gifts and have the possibility of coming on here to be on the podcast, sit
00:08:41.200 here with us, do a prep and all the other crazy stuff.
00:08:44.580 Rob, just play this clip, Rob.
00:08:45.860 I'm getting ahead of myself.
00:08:47.040 Go ahead, Rob.
00:08:47.560 Watch this clip, folks.
00:08:48.480 We're going to announce the greatest Black Friday initiative ever.
00:08:52.540 This right here is a mystery box.
00:08:54.460 It's a mystery, but there's something very special inside of it.
00:08:57.140 So, how do you get the mystery box?
00:08:58.980 The first 200 people that place a $500 order on VTMerch.com, the first 200 get this box.
00:09:07.080 10 of them have something very special in them.
00:09:09.640 But when you open it up and you see this, 10 of them are going to be golden tickets.
00:09:14.460 You're going to take your quarter, and then you're going to scratch this thing off.
00:09:17.520 10 of you are going to get different prizes.
00:09:18.980 Let me tell you what it's going to be.
00:09:20.660 One of them is going to be $5,000 gift card to the VTMerch.
00:09:24.860 Come buy whatever you want to buy, the shoes, the jackets, whatever you want to buy.
00:09:27.820 The other one is five platinum tickets to the vault 2026.
00:09:30.940 That's right.
00:09:31.400 Another one is the 20-carat hat that we did.
00:09:34.640 That's number one out of 15.
00:09:35.960 One of you is going to get that $5,000 Future with Sprite hat.
00:09:39.500 Another one is a one-year silver membership to the Cigar Lounge.
00:09:42.260 Another one is a 15-minute call with me or with Vinny or with Tom or with Adam.
00:09:47.420 Then a $2,500 credit to Menech.
00:09:49.760 And last but not least, you will be in one of Vinny's skits on VTMerch.
00:09:55.860 It's a real big deal.
00:09:58.280 As an actor or an actress.
00:10:00.360 You place an order over $1,000.
00:10:01.820 You're probably going to get a surprise FaceTime from me, Vinny, Adam, Tom, maybe all of us together.
00:10:08.440 Not everybody, but probably 40, 50 of you will get a call.
00:10:11.680 Last but not least, this one is going to break the internet.
00:10:13.620 You ready?
00:10:13.940 For anybody that places an order of over $2,000.
00:10:20.940 I know the number is crazy, but you see why it's crazy.
00:10:23.740 One of you who wins, we will fly you out, put you at a hotel, take you to Casa D'Angelo, do a podcast prep with you.
00:10:33.400 Then the next day, you're sitting right here next to me on the podcast.
00:10:36.460 That's crazy.
00:10:37.360 The entire podcast.
00:10:38.620 You're here with us.
00:10:39.300 That's crazy.
00:10:39.680 And we want you sitting right here.
00:10:41.660 So, if you haven't yet placed an order on VTMerch.com, go place the order.
00:10:46.780 To learn more about the rules and the terms and conditions, click on the link below to learn all and start purchasing now.
00:10:54.540 You know what the good news is?
00:10:56.020 30% discount on pretty much every product.
00:11:00.260 So, go to VTMerch.com, place your order, be one of the first 200, or if you're crazy enough, place the order over $2,000.
00:11:07.420 We'll see you on the podcast.
00:11:08.700 This is crazy, brother.
00:11:09.440 We've never done anything like this.
00:11:10.460 Hopefully, that guy that gets to sit here is not a furry.
00:11:12.660 This is hope.
00:11:13.800 This is hope.
00:11:14.480 Can you do me a favor?
00:11:15.100 Can you go on the website real quick?
00:11:16.320 Can you go on the website?
00:11:16.900 Go to VTMerch.com.
00:11:18.420 And I want to just kind of show this to you guys as you're going through it.
00:11:20.560 So, if you go click on Valuetainment just to refresh the website, Rob.
00:11:23.940 Okay, perfect.
00:11:24.560 If you click on that learn more right there, and you go to it, all the details are down.
00:11:28.580 Go a little bit lower.
00:11:29.400 It'll break down everything for you.
00:11:31.180 And keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.
00:11:33.600 All the details are right there, right there, Rob.
00:11:35.300 Go up a little bit higher, Rob, and click on that view all to the right.
00:11:39.440 On view all, and here's where it is.
00:11:41.300 The shoes, the one thing we did with bundle, the vault conference, the SLS, the public speaking course,
00:11:47.100 the PVD sales system, the business planning workshop, all the recording bundle, $9.97, right?
00:11:53.900 Of course, these are from previous.
00:11:55.180 We never do that.
00:11:56.480 But you got a bundle there for $9.97, and then you got the shoes.
00:11:59.300 That's the only thing that won't be discounted aside from a couple items.
00:12:02.280 And it can go down and place your order.
00:12:04.280 Christmas gift for your husband, for yourself, for your kids, for your spouse.
00:12:09.400 For anybody else that watches, this future looks bright.
00:12:12.260 Yesterday, I went to the sushi spot.
00:12:13.460 I'm ordering sushi.
00:12:14.200 He says, I ordered the three Yeti future looks bright items that were on, which was great seeing the guy at the Kaizen.
00:12:20.560 But anyways, again, if you want to participate, 200 mystery boxes, first 200, go to vtmerch.com, place your order.
00:12:26.920 This is part of the Black Friday.
00:12:28.700 We're just doing it way earlier than everybody else to give you a heads up while we're going through this.
00:12:33.960 If you enjoyed this video, you want to watch more videos like this, click here.
00:12:36.780 And if you want to watch the entire podcast, click here.
00:12:39.560 Andap.
00:12:41.400 Thank you.
00:12:41.660 We'll see you next time.
00:12:43.020 This is the first time.
00:12:44.020 Thank you.