Stephen A. Smith gets real with Will Cain: 'I run from nothing' | Will Cain Podcast

Superstar Sports Superstar television Superstar radio Superstar and now as he was just informing me bestseller Stephen A Smith on the Wilkin podcast oh man how are you man I can't believe what the hell is my career come to I'm getting interviewed by Will King for crying out loud you of all people are interviewing me what's going on man it's really honestly man it is really good to see you same here I don't know if you remember in Seinfeld when George Costanza said this is like my world's colliding but it feels weird having you here at Fox but I'm really happy to see you again I'm happy to see you too and I'm proud of you man you're doing a great great job I knew you would it was I was sad to see you leave ESPN because I enjoyed working with you I enjoyed button heads and having to school you about the world to support this is your Arena this is your Arena now so I know I'm in different territory but when we were doing sports you know I had to school you from time to time I kind of missed beating up on you yeah you walked in you said oh this is what you do for a podcast I said no this is what I do for Big Time podcasts I get the big Studio you get the big wall for your new book straight shooter this is what I get for big time I got you I got it and you said you deserve it that I owe you oh yeah yeah you do owe me I mean the the fact of the matter is you've never looked better on television I mean before you were on an unpolished individual is always a smart brilliant dude but you really didn't know television until you got you hooked up with me oh is that right is that right that's my story and I'm sticking to it okay then you have something to answer for so I just spent last night right reading straight shooter the Memoir of Second Chances in first Hands by Stephen A Smith yeah I'm just going through it man I was like okay Sean Hannity Mark Levin oh look Dan orlovsky Sam Macho right zero references it was a slip up and slip up on my apartment and you know because you've been gone so long I haven't seen you in so long haven't spoken to you in a while I mean maybe it's your fault because you've been neglecting me because you went to Foxy big time and you didn't have time maybe that's what it was see Sean calls me all the time I don't get those calls from okay in office Sean calls you more than I do yes actually oh then I need someone who actually does call me more than you do absolutely it cost to complain he calls to gripe you know get on my nerves uh but he does call one of the things to be honest people often ask me about you sure and one of the things that I always appreciate and I try to communicate to people about not just our relationship but you as an individual Stephen A Smith is that I would say look I am a white guy from Small Town Texas he is a black man from Hollis Queens but there is something maybe in our upbringing maybe just in our constitutional nature that is the same in Reading straight shooter I saw some of our similarities and personality and actually Stephen A some of our personalities in our life experience okay and I want to start while the parallels are not exact sure I want to start with I actually found most the most fascinating part of your life something I didn't know in all the years that we've known each other I want to start with your relationship with your dad okay explain to me your relationship with your father it wasn't great um you know he was somebody that um you know I he just he just wasn't the man that he was supposed to be in my estimation I'm not somebody that regardless of his lack of belief in me um his neglect I'm not someone that looks at him or has ever looked at him and felt like oh I resent him because of what he didn't do for me my resentment towards him was what he did to my mother the fact that he left so much of what I believe to be a man's responsibility I know that's not the most popular thing to say in today's culture I don't give a damn I am a man and I believe that a man's responsibility is to provide for and to protect his family that is your number one obligation and so for me if you have a wife if you have children you ain't eating unless they eat first you ain't comfortable unless they're comfortable if they're hungry it's cause you're starving that's the mentality and my father never ever exercised that kind of thinking my mother had to work 16 hours a day seven days a week for 20 plus years with one week's vacation to take care of six children because he didn't fulfill his obligation to do so and so my resentment towards him was really really about that because I had to watch her struggle and her be deprived of a level of happiness that to me that should have never been the situation and so that's where a lot of it came from I know about your relationship with your mother I was with you when your mother passed I know how important she was to your life yes um do you think Stephen A you know you describe really vividly and really well that your dad look he wasn't violent he simply checked out he was physically present but he wasn't a part of your life he was on the couch watching sports or watching westerns and in fact in the end he ended up having a second family yes in essence do you think having a dad I'm curious about this and I'm probably trying to play a little bit of sure psychoanalysts I understand do you think your dad being so checked out and into sports in any way formed who you are and being so passionate about sports in any way was it a way to get the attention of your father I think so um you know because when I was in fourth grade and I had gotten left back and had to repeat the fourth grade and I'm on my back porch crying because I was being humiliated by kids in the neighborhood I was incredibly embarrassed and it was an open window or say it in the book and um my mother and father in the kitchen they don't know that I'm right there on the back porch and my mother's talking to my father about how I got left back and she's very downtrodden she's very depressed very worried about me and my father was just very a matter of fact she said boy ain't smart he's not going to be anything just give it up that's just the way it's going to be and so to hear him give up on me like that was bad enough but to hear him encouraging her to give up on me as well I thought it was a bit cruel and it really hit me in a certain way and um but I knew he loved Sports and so when you're younger you're trying to gain the affection and the adulation of your dad because he's still your dad and um a few years later when my seventh grade teacher told my mother he's not dumb at all he just drifts he doesn't listen he doesn't hear but when he's locked in he's you got a star on your hands and I really really got into sports at that particular moment in time and as I studied Sports and became more knowledgeable I saw my father's interest in me grow but it was because he needed me to tell him about what was going on he needed somebody to bounce stuff off of somebody to debate to go back and forth with etc etc and when he saw that my knowledge of sports had elevated he had gained some degree of respect for me that inspired me to learn even more about sports to read more about it to watch them to employ the habits that I still employed at this very day to watch games and to go back and watch him and the study plays and the study was transpiring all of these different things because it made me seem pretty brilliant in his eyes and that was a complete shift from what he felt about me when I was younger and so it was basically my way of gaining his respect so when you asked that question of course he had a lot to do with my passion for sports indirectly not intentionally the way that you know that he intended but it nevertheless ended up being that way I want to weave in and out of your life and your Memoir and your opinions your opinion is just such a huge part of who you are sure and probably there are very few people in this world who are more familiar with your opinions than am I meaning you and I have had debates over the years I remember our debates and I've watched you as a fan right so I'm going to apply some of your opinions to your life as well so there's something I'm curious about I agree I share your view of what it is to be a man especially in the context of a family yes you have said something on TV that I have disagreed with to some extent you know very few people know this I think you might know this I actually care a lot about the black community I want to see the success of black Americans talked about that yeah and I happen to believe one of the most um the one of the most successful things that could happen for black Americans is the rebuilding of the family unit okay you know there's those are statistic that 75 of black families um are missing a father yes now I've heard you on first take say you don't think that's fair and you think it's wrong to talk about that statistic and it being a problem with black Americans with your view or black American household with your view on the role of the father and the necessity of what it is to be a man how do you not see that as a problem well I want to clarify what you're saying because I don't think that I quite stated it that way when I'm talking about a lot of times people say if you are a father out of wedlock if you're a father that's not in the home with your child they interpret that as being detached what I'm attacking is is that your relationship with the mother is one thing and obviously that's incredibly helpful if you're United if you're in unison with one another it makes it considerably easier to raise a child as a father out of wedlock I certainly know that and have to admit that and understand that somebody like yourself who is married with Children you're in a better position to be the father that you want to be than I am to be the father that I want to be but in the same breath I am an active participant in my child's life in my daughter's life I am somebody that's there all the time I'm I'm not some deadbeat dad and there's an abundance of men out here who genuinely love their children with all of their heart and they are active participants in their child's life without being married or involved with their mother and so when when when people bring that up what I was saying was don't think for one second that because a man is not in the home and he doesn't have primary custody of that child because he and the mom are not together does not necessarily mean that he is not an active participant and a loving father in their child's life that is the only position that I was taking and you know I never even heard your opinion through the prism of your personal life you guard your personal life to be honest until this Memoir you know you and I are in the same building together every day you didn't talk much about your family that's right you didn't talk about your personal life you guard it I think that's fair right but yeah yeah but you remember if you look in the book that should tell you why number one I had a mother who was incredibly private number two my mother taught me that your family business is your business number three the reason for that is because all your business isn't all your business sometimes inevitably by talking about things you're talking about other people's business and they don't want that business put out there and because of it like for me personally I have nothing to hide I have nothing to hide for me but you're being respectful but I'm being respectful of other people and because you're respectful of other people it could be my daughters it could be their mom it could be their aunt it could be their Grandma it could be a lot of people that doesn't want anything said and that's why you say it but me as an individual I run from nothing but now I understand your your opinion that you were espousing about fatherhood through through the prism of your own personal life that's right and I think you can hold both opinions I think you can say what you have said in this in essence in defense of your own fatherhood yes and others like you that's right and at the same time say but from a macro level it's better without question you're building houses without a question without question I mean there is no doubt that I've done my daughter's a disservice by not being married no doubt about it because regardless of the father that I strive to be and believe that I am regardless of the fact that I have a very close and loving relationship with my daughters there is no question that it's better not to have a child out of wedlock I am not advocating that by any stretch of the imagination what I'm saying is is if you find yourself in that situation then you have to work overtime to be the man that you're supposed to be like my mother said to me when I was 16 years old don't be like your dad and then when I became a dad she sat up there and said okay I'm not I don't like this at all this is the only time in your life I've ever been ashamed she said but you're gonna make up for it by being the best father that you could possibly be and that's what I've been dedicated to ever since for the last 14 years and counting and I will be for the rest of my life because that's the very least that I can do and should do what's the most insecure you've been in your life outside of when I got left back it's when I got fired by ESPN in 2009 because that was when I became a father so I was unemployed at the time that I became a father on the verge of unemployment rather and I was scared to death because because of my upbringing and growing up poor and watching my mother struggle and what have you I literally was scared to death that I was on the verge indirectly or unintentionally of being my father meaning that if I didn't have a job if I couldn't get out there and build a career will and restore what I once had well now it wasn't just me I was a dad and so I have obligations I have responsibilities and to to face that reality and being unemployed you know I was very fortunate that I was smart enough to sort of sense it was coming so I saved enough money where I could I didn't have to compromise my quality of life while I was unemployed for like the first six to eight months but I was scared to death man well okay you know I'm talking you up but I think anybody that me knows I don't give gratuitous compliments so what I like about the Memoir okay and what I think is interesting about you on a personal level is anybody spends some time with you Stephen A beneath the bravado there is a hint of vulnerability okay and in the Memoir you begin to see where where that originates right you begin to see the origins of the vulnerability okay so when I ask you about insecurity okay I didn't know where you would answer I didn't know if you'd answer when you got let go by ESPN because another thing you talk about in the book which I think a lot of fans are going to appreciate of you revealing your own vulnerability is for example your basketball career you know your former co-host a guy that only got to know a few times Skip Bayless has you know had what 2.4 thrown in his face right which I think was his high school basketball whatever it's been used right as a tool to throw in the face of Skip Bayless and you talk about your own basketball career and you say look I was there's a great line you say something like I was a part-time starter in high school exactly you kind of go through it and and then you were injured yes at Winston-Salem yeah and I didn't know like when I asked you what your biggest insecurity you know where the what you might answer where it might lie is it what you talked about getting held back is it getting fired is it not living up to your basketball expectations what's your basketball expectations I never cared about because I knew that was injured you know you know I had chronic tendonitis because I was I was playing on the cements throughout New York City I had a bad knee and whatever and whenever I was healthy I could bawl and people that got on the court with me knew I could Ball but you know I knew I wasn't healthy so when my final attendance finally came gave out didn't support the kneecap of my kneecap split in half my first year in college that was that so I totally understood that and by the way before I went there I was like five nine hundred and thirty pounds so you know I remember one time somebody joked and they tried to lie about some stat I had to throw out some two point or whatever and I was like actually it was less than that because I didn't play because I cracked my kneecap and have what are you talking about but that's neither you know there me getting left back and me getting Let Go by ESPN were the two biggest things that really resonated with me and when they people talk about you bring up my bravado and all that other stuff you know somebody like yourself and others who know me a little bit better than the average Joe you know you can speak to this I'm on TV debating Sports that's when you see my bravado nobody sees the provider of me walking in the streets do you think you don't walk with swagger down the streets or into a studio but what I'm saying to you I'm talking about when you have a conversation with me about me if you if you listen to me talk about me you don't get that when we're talking about sports sure when we're talking about life I don't get into my personal business but I don't walk around like yo you know what I don't have a candle world I'm not vulnerable to anything life is great blah blah blah I've overcome obstacles throughout my life and it doesn't matter what obstacles you throw in front of me I'm going to overcome it my bravado might come from that but make no mistake about it I've always had vulnerable I don't have it in front of me but you end the book with like here I come that's right let me tell you something this bravado doesn't end when the cameras turn off it doesn't it doesn't but it's because of what I've overcome it's because of what I've overcome no matter what man listen if you haven't been through it whatever it is then you don't know but when you've been through hell and you've climbed and scratched and clawed your way out of it is very few things that you think can hold you back because it's like okay y'all tried to get me you know I'm saying whoever they might be my father might be friends it might be a teacher in high school to college the guidance counselor that laughed in my face when I said I want to go to college it could be anybody but the point is when you go through what I've been through and you've if you come out on this side yeah there's a part of you that's like I made it are you insecure now about some things yeah well I think so um I'm always contemplating the future when they let me go in 2009 and no one would touch me and I say no one would touch me for television nobody that stays with you I'm always believing I'm a check from being unemployed when I give speeches and I go on the lecture circuit I often use this statement I'm brilliant because I know I'm not I steal from those who are I learn along the way and I persevere I tell people that all the time because I want people to understand I never assume I've arrived I always know you can cut me off at the knees at any given moment that's why I'm always ready because I don't take anything for granted that's where my success comes from not in believing that I'm this guy it's feeling that I'm not and that constantly working to prove I can be that guy and never taking it for granted that's how I am which is why I work so hard it's absurd that a guidance counselor or I laughed well and the teachers that held you look or your dad yep look man I've known you for a long time one thing you can't be accused of is not being smart I mean that's that's absurd so you know what I want to talk about you and me for a minute I want to talk about you and me as a proxy for a larger conversation in America okay first of all what's the maddest you've ever been at me honestly will this is going to shock you I've never been mad at you come on never one time I came in your office one time no do you remember remind me refresh my memory okay so people always say man you guys really went I said you know the thing about it soon it was over this exactly it was it was dap it up and it's not that doesn't is never fake never right I mean but what it means is we can set it aside and be men after the disagreement right but one time I walked into your office and you said you went over the line and it was uh and you thought I got too angry yeah but what I'm saying to you is that I wasn't angry at you I was saying you got too angry that's what I'm trying to tell you see for me I think I said are we cool not really what no I didn't say that's not true now that's not true I've never said that to you and I wouldn't say that to you because I've always appreciated the fact that you stand on what you believe and you're fair-minded and I was the one that was encouraging you when everybody was talking about look man you had ESPN and you spew these views and wait a minute now and I've got to be spewing it could be elucidated or whatever whatever use whatever word works for you either way I know the definition of all three but the point is is that for me I was the one who told you be yourself yeah and as long as you are you and you're fed we're good and so a lot of times people will say man how do you take that guy it's a damn debate show what is he supposed to do agree with me no if he feels different currently let him feel that way you have every right you're a white dude from the south I'm from the streets of New York City chances are we ain't gonna agree but if respect one another and we're fair-minded and we definitely express our views as accurately as we possibly can that's all we owe each other and that's cool one of the things we had in common that's what back to our childhood like you said in the book iron sharpens iron and you got into with your dad right on Sports yeah my my dinner table was no Kumbaya that's right but it wasn't angry either it was I mean my dad would tell me I was full of it in no uncertain terms wow but it wasn't oh I mean he expected me to come back let's go what do you have that's right and so and that's how I feel with my friends no like that's why I felt like it was never a problem we hit off like if we never had a break you probably not going to talk to you that's right not sit there and tell you you're full of it yeah right well let's keep this also in mind as well I mean even though I'm the executive producer of the show now I wasn't back then but despite the fact that I wasn't back then it wasn't like I didn't have some influence if I didn't want you on the show you wouldn't have been on the show I always knew that yes so you always knew that and yet and yet you were on there you were on there constantly because I wanted you on the show because I thought you did a great job and I thought you were fair-minded and you knew what the hell you were talking about you knew what you felt and that's What mattered to me and you trusted who I was as a human being absolutely and so in other words what you're talking about some other people said why you have that guy on I'm sure it often came with because he's a racist or whatever yes and you knew who I was and we just disagreed no absolutely I would always defend you to the end with that and that's the day I will defend you about that no I appreciate that but I told you back then um I'd tell you to your face I'll tell you now my criticism of you is too often that you ignore individual facts and circumstances and draw the larger racial narrative right I think we're on your radio show one time and I told you and I told you you was full of it okay I told you you were full of it I said right that's not no you weren't you weren't you're still not right but what else is new I mean the bottom line is is that you're going to feel no but it's just for real generally Romo uh I remember you said something about Tony Romo getting honored at the Mavs game and you made it black quiet or whatever and there's several examples but what it was for me was and you're incredibly fair-minded and incredibly smart so I'm like why are you by the way this was always the situation on first take it didn't matter if it was uh what it was Kaepernick or that's right or whatever it might be it was like let's look at the individual facts uh Bubba Wallace we didn't do that one together I don't think but like let me see if the facts add up to whether or not this is race let's not leap to the the prism that's right that that's fine but as a as a white guy you can take that position as a black guy I think differently from time to time not always and where I would attack you where I would attack and push back at you was when you used the word always because there were plenty of times that I didn't do that that's fair so so what I'm saying is I was like yeah well I feel this way about this it could be capping the kid it could be the Tony Romo situation his relationship on a job on uh uh Celtics coach yeah yes it wouldn't happen to white coat exactly because covering the NBA I know a plethora of white dudes that are messing around in the office and it wasn't publicized you either fire them or you keep them and it's an in-house HR matter what you don't do is have press conferences reveal killing some dialysis have been going on and stuff like that I'm like really that's what we're doing now and if you notice everybody got quiet because nobody wanted me or anybody covering the NBA to get into the plethora of white individuals in professional sports in executive positions that have been messing around over the years we happen to know those stories and we wouldn't think to publicize them so why is it that this man is is having press conferences where they're talking about him he wasn't the one who was married he wasn't married was not married okay he had some kind of relationship with whomever he was not married it's an HR matter that was my position I'm like fire him or keep him but what you don't do is publicize it see that was my first take Stephen A that's what I'm talking about that would be me that's what I'm talking about that would be me no I want to correct the record because you're right you're not always doing that you're not always drawing the racial prison right uh you are unpredictable right and then sometimes you're just wrong and keep that's fine but keep in mind that you have an abundance of black you have an abundance of black folks who don't feel that that I know that that I'm right to my own Community because I'm fair-minded and when a white person is right I'm able to say hey they right and by the way it's not about race they're just right at this particular in this particular instance how much does that bother you when the Black I don't know I don't know if you get Tom Thumb in your face I don't know what you I have okay well many occasions sell out whatever oh yes absolutely how much does that bother you oh it it'll tick me off from this perspective I know what battles I fight on behalf of us every day of my life and the thing that I think hurts my community um is that I don't know of any other community who does what we do each other the second you can agree with each other 99 of the time the second you disagree your authenticity as a black person is brought into question by folks in the black community I think it's one of the most egregious things that we do to each other that no other race a group of people that I see do to each other and I think it's disgusting and and it is what it is but when you sit in my seat and when you've achieved what I've achieved usually people are coming at you like that because it's almost like the message is being sent you could not possibly have achieved unless you're selling out and I beg to differ with that I think that a lot of us in the black community are incred that are successful are incredibly authentic to who we are and as it pertains to our love for our own Community we're just fair-minded and when wrong is wrong wrong is wrong and you're just going to call it like you see it and that's what that's what comes with it so I actually wanted to introduce the topic of race as well because I want you know I think in a different world you and I would have done this on Monday morning on first take you know we would have talked about maybe I don't know if there's enough of a connection to sports but Tyree Nichols yes about it yeah you're going to talk about it on Monday I don't know if we'll talk about it this Monday we made but we would you and I we had talked we would have talked about we would have talked about without question Tyree Nichols is beat by five officers to death in Memphis Tennessee five black officers um Universal condemnation you and I agree I mean this is horrendous these officers I like what one of my colleagues Dan bongino said I don't think this is a training issue this is a Personnel issue sometimes there's bad people in this world who do bad things and they need to be held to account okay and Justice the question is as we do in these instances is there a larger conversation about policing and race what a question I think there's no question without question there's a larger conversation because see this is what everybody needs to understand you got five black police officers who did this to a young black man that's not about black or white it's about blue and when you have Rogue officers because clearly they are rogue and Dan bongino was right and accurate in pointing that out the point is is that you're a part of the problem when you stand and do nothing and you're in a position to do something if you are a police officer you're in a position to do something those five police officers none of y'all knew to do the right thing what about the officers who came afterwards because there was about three or four additional police officers who showed up none of y'all were in a position to do anything this is the kind of stuff that we're talking about here you're talking about a 150 pound kid that was restrained by five police officers two officers held them down while another officer came and kicked him in the face twice then after that they picked him up held him up while another officer came and then punched him in the face twice then another officer came while he was still being held clearly clearly out of it and you hit him with batons oh night sticks I mean you've got to be kidding me and the only and then think about it it was caught by a surveillance Campbell above across the street the body cams didn't reveal all of that because they literally had covered up the body cams and was yelling and screaming as if they were trying to restrain him when the overhead satellite cam showed they already had him restrained and detained and you still did what you did and so when you see something like that as heinous as far as I'm concerned they should never be let get let out of prison they should serve they should get a life sentence as far as I'm sure all five of them that's number one number two when we talk about things systemically we've had situations in the past you have Freddie gray situation there were black officers as well but there was also obviously been many cases where it involved white officers where everybody people being shot in the back we're so protective of making sure that all law enforcement officials are not castigated that sometimes we don't pay enough attention to what's transpiring systemically and how that needs to be addressed and how we need those good offices help in order to pull it off and so what I'm saying is that has to be a priority to call on a police officers to look them dead in the face and say you know you're better you know you're better than no sorry no good officers that did what they did you know you would never do something like that so rather than just damp on Geno who used to be associated with Secret Service obviously who does a great job for you guys because I like them you know rather than him calling out and being protective of law enforcement why don't you in law enforcement be protective of law enforcement by saying that's them that ain't us and joining the people to make sure you bring the hammer down on all those who transgress so let me tell you the point of view from essentially the opposite side of the spectrum I don't know that there is I don't know that I can agree with you that there is an instinct to protect law enforcement these days I feel like there's an instinct to malign law enforcement systemically by the black community sure okay well maybe that well let me I want to share with you two points of view okay and I want to get your reaction okay I don't really know who she is but I think she's an activist of some kind Brie Newsom bass okay okay she tweets out um policing itself must be abolished this is the problem the institution not a handful of blue-collar personnel hired to carry out a business structure she says in essence black or white you are blue and if you are blue you're participating in a system of white supremacy our former colleague Jamel Hill says um that this is we need to look at who controls the institution of policing it's the white elite in the ruling class and who is most impacted by the violence of policing poor people the working class and black people okay so they're calling for essentially if not the abolishment then reimagining of police modifications I think are necessary but I would never call for the embellishment of law enforcement we've got bad apples throughout our society in all shapes colors and sizes and genders I might add it ain't just men commit crimes women to commit crimes too we understand that um there has to be law and Order there is no doubt about that and I know for a fact that the vast majority of folks in the black community and every other community when trouble Brews we're dollar 9-1-1 so I'm not going to lose my sense of self and talk about how there should we need to abolish policing hell no I don't believe in that at all yes I do believe that there are some bad apples they need to be weeded out and addressed and the the Lord the good members in law enforcement need to put forth their due diligence and work just as diligently as we're employing others to do to weed those bad apples out but I am not an advocate of abolishing policing by any stretch of the imagination I will say more money needs to be poured into the necessary training we also need to put forth an extreme you know a strenuous exerted effort to make sure we weed out those bad apples and we get people on the right track and because that's what our system is all about and I'm not deviating from that by any stretching match I don't care what anybody says we need police officers we just need police officers not to be Rogue and to do their job and to respect the right of American civilians and obviously that includes black Americans we're a part of this country too we deserve to be treated fairly treat us like you would treat anybody else and by the way don't commit criminal acts like these five officers just did period one thing I know about you and you don't hide it it's in the book is you love politics yeah you said you have two Super Bowls in the year yeah you know the Super Bowl and presidential debates and presidential debates yeah um I know you want to have a late night show you don't hide that as well yeah you have much greater Ambitions um what do you think about the current state of politics what do you think about the current president United States Joe Biden well first thing to answer that first question I don't I think that our politics are worse than they've ever been I think this country is divided more so than than it has been in my lifetime I won't say ever because obviously I was born in 1967 and that was the entail into the Civil Rights civil rights movement and those who came before me have a right to say that it was worse then than it is now they would know better than me I would tell you in my lifetime I've never seen it this bad never seen it this divisive and I blame Capitol Hill for it um primarily not solely but primarily the reason I say that is because we have to get back to understanding the importance of decorum we understand that when you have a constituency out there everybody ain't gonna tell the truth all the time everybody gonna you know you know you know what people are going to say right you tell me Stephen A Smith on first take is preaching to us about decorum yes I don't I but but I know how to act just because I raise my voice or whatever it doesn't mean I don't know how to act I mean I'm not lying to folks I'm not being divisive purposely uh purposefully just for the sake of building a constituency that will keep me in power I'm not ignoring the needs and the desires of the American people I pretend to represent I'm not doing those things they are and so when you look at it from that perspective and and to me here's where it's really alarming to me in terms of our politics will Cain I can't sit up there and call you a racist and the no good SOB and all of this other stuff now let's go to the negotiating table and and work on policy for the American people I can't do that these people do it to each other every day they act like juveniles they don't come together everybody's always right there's no compromise there's no real negotiation that I'm talking about what they give off I'm not following them so intimately where I can authenticate that whether they talk to one another or not but the impression that they give us is so divisive to the well-being of this country they are directly responsible for the regression that we've seen take place before our very eyes and that is what bothers me more than anything else you can't always get everything that you want but we put them up there on Capitol Hill to work together which is why I was so happy at what happened with the midterms I too thought there was going to be a red wave I thought that the Republicans were going to rock the Democrat I was shocked shocked that the Democrats maintained the Senate that you know the house I mean obviously the house was won with Kevin McCarthy and all of these guys but I expected it to be significantly steeper than it ended up being and the American people basically said what culture we ain't down with that Mega Republicans we ain't down with that either those are the fringes but 85 Plus percent of this population leans more towards civility not necessarily Centrist but more towards civility as opposed to just kidding what they want and I think that that's what we've got to get back to and I don't think that these politicians push for that and I think that that's one part of the problem because when you got stuff like that going up on Capitol Hill who are y'all to tell us about anything else that's going on with our society when our elected officials are acting the way that they act I know you say you're not a republican you're not a Democrat you're an independent I know you weren't a fan of Donald Trump are you a fan of Joe Biden not really not really I mean I got to tell you that um I think he's spending entirely too much money um I'm one of those people as a black man that I believe when white folks catch a cold black folks catch pneumonia no matter how bad it is for y'all it's gonna be worse for us and when you're spending that much money eventually it's going to be called in you have to I mean we got trillions of dollars in debt we're spending money and we're throwing money at problems and thinking that it's not going to have uh is there's not going to be any fall back I just think that's foolhardy and so for me again I'd like to see more compromise um I look at our borders um I am all for legal immigration illegal immigration I don't like the way sometimes the problem is conveyed it's just the level of cynicism that gets tinged in the mix and it just makes me uncomfortable but it is a problem it's a problem Barack Obama acknowledged during his administration it was a problem Bill Clinton acknowledged during his administration George W bush acknowledged it during his administration so let's not pretend that it's not a problem that needs to be addressed now okay National Security yeah you know I'm not I'm not this nationalist you know I believe in in ingratiating ourselves with the International Community but I also applaud us when we ask the questions well why are we involved in this why are we throwing all of this money in here or here let's ask those questions because it is our money we got a lot of problems in America that we need to to resolve and to solve you know and for some reason we can't seem to do it but we're ready to help everybody else I don't I don't have a problem with American citizens that ask those questions because to me if you're a politician you should have the answer it shouldn't be oh that side doesn't care oh that side is racist oh this side just wants to take us into a different into they want to take us back in time and I don't fall for that because that's engaging in demagoguery and what you're trying to do is scare us into voting for you as opposed to saying excuse me our policies are better than yours that's what I want to see politicians debating and giving the American people a chance to make a choice well we can we can end here Stephen A I actually think the American politics and I think the American family could actually benefit a lot from being more like first take I think it could benefit being more like the relationship that you and I have had where you go straight at it yeah you share your disagreements face to face my end-to-man but issues and then it's over but what I'm saying is issues not pettiness where you're trying to get people to look oh so I don't agree with Will right so will and I are arguing but what I want to do is instead pain him as somebody who don't like people who look differently than him just because we disagree no let's stick to the issue what are we debating about let's talk about that that's what we need to get back to really debating And discussing issues instead of trying to engage in Scare Tactics just to make sure somebody votes on your side that's what I would like to see man the entire time I've known you it's been a constant rocket ship up it's good to read the Memoir and see the ups and downs of that roller coaster ride wasn't always a rocket ship up but I know how hard you work yeah everybody knows how big a star there you go he's now a bestseller straight shooter A Memoir of Second Chances and first takes you got to go get it take it from number five to number one how about that all right Stephen A Smith it's great to see you again buddy good to see you buddy take care all the best hey it's Will Kane click here to subscribe to the Fox News Channel on YouTube it's the best way to get our latest interviews and highlights and click to subscribe to the will Kane podcast for full episodes right now

Channel: Fox News

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Keywords: will cain, stephen a smith, stephen a. smith, stephen a, espn live, stephen a., stephen a. smith will cain, will cain first take, fnc, fox news, fox news channel, fox news podcast, fox news will cain, fox news will cain podcast, news, the will cain podcast, will cain fox news, will cain podcast, will cain podcast fox news, stephen a smith fox news, fox news stephen a smith, stephen a smith will cain podcast, will cain podcast stephen a smith

Id: yYfceg0oFVk

Length: 41min 14sec (2474 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 31 2023