Stephen A. Smith is blasting the lack of Black representation at President Donald Trump’s White House meeting on the future of college sports, saying Black leaders were largely left out.
On a recent episode of Straight Shooter, Smith went in on the “Saving College Sports” roundtable, which brought roughly 50 figures from college athletics, media, government, and other sectors to the White House.
“Fifty people are invited to the White House. He ain’t one of them,” Smith said of Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman. “Black athletic directors, nowhere to be found. Black conference commissioners, nowhere to be found.”
“Let’s call it what it is. Trump and the people that he had up in there, it looked like a modern-day country club,” he continued. “But that man is talking to Black people, and he’s sitting up there saying, ‘What the hell do you have to lose?’”
Smith also raised concerns about HBCUs, saying the Protect College Sports Act does not guarantee contributions to historically Black colleges and universities. The legislation is currently moving through Congress. The Senate passed the measure 77-22 on Sept. 28, sending it to the House.
“To reach this accord with no official representation at the table representing the interests of the student-athlete,” he said, “I found egregious.”
Smith and Trump have also traded public jabs in recent months. After Smith blamed Trump’s appearance at an NBA Finals game for a New York Knicks loss, Trump clapped back by calling him an “arrogant fool” and a “loudmouth huckster.” Smith responded by saying that he would put his “I.Q. up against yours any day of the week.”
