‘C’mon Man!’ Stephen A. Smith Badly Whiffs on the Names of 2 Major Senate Democrats in Town Hall Rant

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith got a big stage on Wednesday night to try and bolster his credentials as a political talking head. But a two-hour town hall at the Kennedy Center in Washington proved, at times, to be a bit of a struggle for the First Take host.

In the waning moments of the NewsNation-hosted forum on Wednesday, Smith completely butchered the names of two prominent Senate Democrats — Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Ironically, it happened during a rant in which Smith criticized FBI Director Kash Patel for the manner in which he spoke to the senators during his recent testimony on Capitol Hill.

“I’m not here to judge Kash Patel, for example, in terms of the job he’s doing or not doing or whatever,” Smith said. “I’m simply talking about — did you see the way that he was talking to Senator Shift (sic)? You know, Bloomingdale (sic) and all. Come on, man!”

Smith, after messing up the names, went on to scold Patel about the way he addressed the senators.

“You’re the director for the FBI,” Smith said. “So what I’m saying to you is this: You got a whole bunch of people that work under Trump, but we really gonna sit here in this audience today and have a discussion about decorum, how you talk to people, how you make sure that you conduct yourself? I’m not talking policy right now. I’m talking about that. And we are really not gonna know where this emanates from. Let’s stop that nonsense.”

Of course, as sports fans know, botched names (and facts, for that matter) are not unique to Smith’s political takes. In 2023, Smith famously bungled the name of his own ESPN co-host Molly Qerim — whom he worked with for seven years.

Watch above, via NewsNation.