‘It’s a Crisis’: Stephen A. Smith Has ‘No Problem’ With Trump Sending National Guard to Chicago
ESPN star Stephen A. Smith said he has “no problem” with President Donald Trump’s plan to send the National Guard to Chicago to combat crime, saying it will help The Windy City address a full-blown “crisis.”
Smith made those comments on a panel alongside Outkick Founder Clay Travis during the “Front Office Sports Live” event in New York City on Tuesday.
“In the city of Chicago, I don’t give a damn what they say. I have no problem with sending in the National Guard,” Smith said. “They were a problem before Obama got into office, when [Obama] was a junior senator, they was a problem when he was in office for eight years as a president. They’ve been a problem now. And I’ve seen black people come on television locally and nationally, crying for support, whether it’s from the National Guard or whatever it takes.”
Smith continued: “In other words, the city of Chicago has had ample opportunity to do something about it, and I do think it’s a crisis in that city.”
Travis agreed with his fellow panelist. A moment earlier, Travis said Trump “deserves way more credit” from both Democrats and Republicans for his crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.
“What [Trump] did in Washington, D.C. saved a lot of lives. Most of the lives he saved were black, because most of the victims of violent crime in Washington, D.C. are black,” Travis said.
He added “a lot of white people” who live in posh parts of the nation’s capital don’t want to admit that fact, because they would prefer to “pretend black violence and inner-city violence doesn’t exist.”
Their comments come after President Trump said he will be “going in” to Chicago with the National Guard after seeing news reports about the carnage that occurred over Labor Day Weekend.
ABC 7 in Chicago reported 58 people were shot in the city over the holiday weekend, which was an 87% surge from the same time the year before. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) have made it clear they do not want the president’s help when it comes to fighting lawlessness.
You can watch Travis and Smith discuss Trump’s use of the National Guard via a clip from Front Office Sport’s stream on X.
