President Donald Trump and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith are currently locked in a heated public feud that shows no signs of cooling down. On Wednesday, June 10, the President escalated the situation by taking to Truth Social to share his blunt assessment of the sports commentator. Trump wrote, “Stephen A. Smith is a LOW IQ individual, an arrogant fool, and as dumb as a rock. He is not equipped, in any way, shape, or form, to run for any office, let alone President of the United States.”
According to BroBible, the tension between the two began following Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. Smith criticized the President for attending the game, arguing that his presence created unnecessary disruptions for the New York Knicks and their fans. Smith specifically called out the traffic, the cancellation of a fan watch party, and the general impact of security protocols on the surrounding area.
“This is about an individual engaging in a level of narcissism that really rakes my freakin’ nerves,” Smith said. “He’s got no business here tonight. It has nothing to do with politics. It was everything to do with the fervor that exists around the New York Knicks and he is disrupting everything the Knicks have been vibing with.”
The Debate Challenge That Escalated the Feud
Following the Knicks loss to the Spurs, Trump addressed these comments by questioning the intellectual capacity of the host. Trump told reporters, “I think he’s a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does actually.”
Smith did not take these remarks lightly. During the Tuesday, June 9 episode of First Take, he responded by challenging the President to a debate. Smith told his audience, “You wanna talk about IQ, I could say I could put my IQ against yours, I got something even better I could ask you why you been running from me for the past year since I asked you to talk to me, I could ask you to debate me since you think you’re that dude. We could go a myriad of ways.”
Beyond the debate challenge, Smith also attacked the President for his behavior during the game itself. He pointed to photos that appeared to show Trump sleeping in the arena. “If it was that important for you to be there, why did you look like you were asleep?” Smith asked. “Didn’t you call out former President Joe Biden, ‘Sleepy Joe’? Well, what should we call you? Cause you weren’t awake.”
Trump used his Wednesday morning post to dismiss the possibility of a debate and further criticize Smith’s potential political future. He claimed, “He’d get annihilated in a debate by the most incompetent of politicians. Joe Biden’s now ‘fabled’ performance would look great by comparison to anything that this loudmouth huckster has to offer, which isn’t much! Within a few weeks, they’d laugh him out of politics!!!”
Published: Jun 10, 2026 04:45 pm