‘I Get it Now’: Stephen A. Smith Apologizes to Jasmine Crockett After Accusing Her of Using ‘Street Verbiage’
Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday apologized to Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for accusing the congresswoman of using “street verbiage.”
Last week, Smith offered his harsh critique of Crockett during an episode of his politics-focused SiriusXM show Straight Shooter. During that rant, Smith cited very examples of Crockett talking about her political enemies in a way that he considered inappropriate. Smith claimed Crockett’s rhetoric was “for the streets” and argued that it was helping the constituents in her district.
On Wednesday, Smith taped an impromptu segment of his SiriusXM show to issue a public apology to Crockett. While he didn’t retract his previous comments, he acknowledged how his words could have been used by President Donald Trump as “ammunition” to demean Black women:
I get it now, with Trump feeding into that nonsense, giving him fodder or ammunition, to continue to go out there and talk about our Black women that way. I got it. I don’t like that at all. I don’t want to be associated with nothing like that, and I apologize because I respect the hell out of Jasmine Crockett and what she has accomplished. I absolutely do. And I appreciate the fact that she feels compelled to fight the way that she’s fought, the way that she fights because of what she’s dealing with.
I’ve been a journalist for over 30 years. I don’t want enemies. I truly don’t. But I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to call it like I see it. It should be done respectfully. It should be done with the sensitivity that it needs to be done with. I get it. I understand. But I’m going to be me. I’m going to call it like I see it. I can look Jasmine Crockett in the face and say, “I’m sorry for any kind of noise I caused in your direction,” because she is accomplished, and she is smart, and she does have an incredible, incredible challenge working in this political climate on Capitol Hill. I got it.
Watch above, via Sirius XM’s POTUS channel.
