Stephen A. Smith, an ESPN analyst who joins Chris Cuomo on News Nation weekly, went off on the Democratic Party for consistently selecting candidates for voters rather than reflecting voter preferences. He credited the GOP for listening more closely to its constituents and argued that Democrats will struggle to win elections if they continue trying to force-feed candidates to voters while lacking a clear policy direction themselves.
“That’s their DAMN problem!”
— Overton (@overton_news) April 14, 2026
Stephen A. Smith RIPS the “rudderless” Democrat Party to shreds.
He blasted the party for selecting candidates for voters instead of listening to what their own base actually wants.
SMITH: “I’ve been on their case for a long damn time.”
“They… pic.twitter.com/BSWcg1TvFU
"I've been on their case for a long damn time. They just want to ignore what they want to ignore because that's what the Democratic Party does. See, the one thing you have to give the GOP credit for is that its constituents, its voters say, no, we want that," Smith said. "Yeah, you got DeSantis or Ramaswamy or Nikki Haley, somebody. Hell with y'all. We want him. Whereas the Democratic Party religiously are picking candidates for you and telling you as a Democratic constituent who you should be supporting. That's their damn problem."
"We know that in New York City, because I'm going to say it, you can't say it, but I'm going to say it. Your brother should be the mayor of New York City. He should be the governor of New York State," he continued. "Don't get me started with all of that stuff. But that's a different subject for another day. In the end, my position has been consistent."
"It's not about sitting up there and saying the Democratic Party doesn't have a chance. It's saying replicating your behavior pre-election and allowing that to continue while being rudderless and leaderless is not going to get you anywhere," Smith argued. "Because no matter how much you complain about Trump, here's the bottom line, unless he's successful in circumventing the 22nd amendment of the constitution and running for a third term, he's not running in 2028."
He went on to slam Democrats for still not knowing who is leading their party.
“WHO IS YOUR DAMN LEADER?!”
— Overton (@overton_news) April 14, 2026
Stephen A. Smith just UNLOADED on the Democrats, saying he’s been asking the same question for two years — and still nobody has an answer.
He then CALLED OUT Kamala Harris by name over what he described as yet another wishy washy “maybe” on a 2028… pic.twitter.com/BjZnj2i5Ma
This comes after the same issue was raised by Republicans in 2024, when former President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race late in the cycle and Democrats anointed Kamala Harris to take over the party’s nomination. The outcome of that election has been cited by some as an example of the point Smith is making: when Democrats as an organization select their candidate and attempt to bypass voters, it does not tend to end in victory.