Stephen A. Smith Says Barack Obama Reached Out to Him Following Biden Election Criticism

Stephen A. Smith is reflecting on a private conversation he had with former president Barack Obama.

Smith, 58, appeared on the Friday, August 28 episode of his Straight Shooter Media company’s podcast, The Culture Table, where he revealed that Obama, 65, called him before the 2024 election to discuss his influence, following comments the television personality made about then-president Joe Biden.

“What I never told y’all, and I never brought up, is that Barack Obama called me too. The content of that conversation will remain private because I will not violate trust,” Smith said. “He called before the election to discuss my impact, but he didn’t come on the podcast either.”

Smith defended his comments on Biden, 83, and criticized Obama for speaking with him privately but not appearing on his podcast to hash things out.

“It was after I said that we need a new president because Joe Biden clearly was done,” he continued. “You know, he clearly looked done. So the point is, folks like to talk to me privately, but then when I ask them to come on camera and to have a fruitful discussion, now they go elsewhere.”

“So it’s like I’m taking these hits, and these are people that want to facilitate or assist in the facilitation of these narratives being disseminated and projected about me,” the ESPN anchor said. “But the same people calling me privately, having discussions upon which I have never violated. This is the first time anyone has ever heard me publicly state that Barack Obama called me.”

Obama wasn’t the only one Smith accused of not coming on his Straight Shooter show; he also called out former first lady Michelle Obama, former vice president Kamala Harris, Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for not sitting down with him to talk politics and other hot-button issues.

“I think the Democrats fear my footsteps,” Smith alleged. “I think they know that they have a legitimate fear that I can influence the election potentially.”

Addressing the “thumbs-down” award he received from the National Association for Black Journalists (NABJ) for his criticism of Black female politicians, per the Los Angeles Times, Smith said Harris, 61, also “reached out to him,” adding that the pair met privately and spoke for “two hours.”

“She did not speak to me and come on my show before the election,” he said of Harris, comparing her stance to that of the 44th president. “Once again, in my opinion, they take paths of smaller resistance.”