Stephen A. Smith Believes Racism Is 'Not as Prevalent as the Left Would Like Us to Believe'

Stephen A. Smith has made some comments that will not be appreciated by the Democrat base whose support he may or may not seek to have in 2028.

The ESPN hot-take dispenser continued his media tour in advance of what appears to be a bid for the Democrat nomination in 2028. In an interview with CBS’s Robert Costa, Smith said he is not concerned about racism as a barrier to his political aspirations. Not only that, he downplayed the role of racism in America in general.

“Do you worry about racism if you ran for president?” Costa asked.

“No. I know it exists. I know that you can’t escape it, but I do not believe it is as prevalent as some on the left would like us to believe,” Smith said. “I do believe a vast majority of Americans judge you on the content of your character, rather than the color of your skin.”

Smith continued, “I think a lot of people in America, especially in this day in age, now more so than ever before, it’s not about race. It’s about the fact they don’t give a damn about it, because they got their own problems.

“That’s entirely different than believing they are superior to you and want to hold you back from ascending. That’s not what’s going on to the degree it was decades ago.”

A great answer, to be sure.

However, a declaration that racism is not a barrier to the upward mobility of minorities is not likely to sit well with a Democrat base and leadership that has spent the last nearly 60 years trying to convince all within earshot that racism is the single biggest issue in confronting the country.