Stephen A. Smith has responded to President Donald Trump’s claim that he doesn’t have the IQ to be President of the United States of America.
“You wanna talk about IQ? I could put my IQ against yours any day of the week,” Smith, 58, said on the Tuesday, June 9, episode of First Take.
He continued, “I got something even better. I could ask you why you’ve been running from me for the past year since I asked you to talk to me. I could ask you to debate me since you think you’re that dude.”
The latest tiff between Smith and Trump, 79, comes amid the 2026 NBA Finals, featuring a head-to-head battle between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks.
Both Smith and Trump are outspoken Knicks fans, and before Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, Smith expressed fear that Trump’s one-of-a-kind attendance would disrupt the team’s historic run. As it happens, Trump attended Game 3, which the Knicks lost, 115-111, snapping their incredible 13-game playoff winning streak.
After the game, Trump spoke with reporters before boarding Air Force One, where he brushed Smith’s jinx accusation aside by bringing up the long-standing speculation that the controversial sports commentator will one day run for president.
“I think he’s a nice guy but you need a certain aptitude to run for president,” Trump said. “You need a high IQ, I don’t really think Stephen A Smith has that.”
Despite the president’s comments, Smith took a victory lap on First Take, insisting that the Knicks’ loss shows he was right about the negative impact of the president’s attendance.
“Our president showed up to New York City last night. And needless to say what I feared would happen, ended up happening,” he said. “The New York Knicks lost and obviously I’m blaming him. Why am I blaming him, ladies and gentlemen? It’s very simple: because the president disrupted our mojo. I’ve said this on many occasions over the last 24 hours and I’m saying it again. The man messed things up.”
While there’s no reason to actually think Trump’s presence had an effect on how the Knicks played, Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox noted before the game that the presidential visit inconvenienced both players and fans.
“I think the president being here just makes it inconvenient on everybody else,” Fox, 28, said. “We got, obviously, more security. We gotta, like, send stuff early. I think our buses are a little earlier.”
He added, “We’re getting screened like it’s TSA. It’s a little inconvenient for the people that’s got to play, but it is what it is.”
The Knicks and Spurs will play Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, June 10, at Madison Square Garden.
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