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If It Wasn't on HBO, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Wouldn't Be Invited Back on Bill Maher's Show

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  January 26, 2025 2:00 PM

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith isn’t known for his political commentary, though he has sprinkled in some now and then on First Take and his radio show. He’s not woke. Like Maher, he’s a commonsense liberal who also appears to have had it with the hypocrisy and outright insanity of the progressive Left. Maher has a better track record bashing his side, though he’s bound to return to his roots soon, but not this week.  

Maher torched Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass again, while Mr. Smith obliterated all the excesses of American liberals, which made Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) very uncomfortable. It was done with the usual enthusiasm and animation exhibited by Stephen A—which is his schtick—but it was also a brutal torching of the current disposition and ethos of the Democratic Party.  

First, Democrats were the ones who made Trump a celebrity, with Mr. Smith noting how the president was ‘the man’ when cozying up with Hollywood’s elite. Second, how he and other Democrats felt like fools voting for Kamala, along with the oddity of casting her as some rockstar when she couldn’t manage to win a single Democratic primary. Third, the pronoun games are insane; where he’s seen at his network that saying gender-specific and scientifically accurate words were considered anathema to left-wingers. 

“It got to the point where 'he or she' was taboo amongst some Democrats. How the hell did that happen?" Smith said. 

Khanna tried to make a pitch to keep some illegal aliens in the country, which Smith took apart in less than five minutes, noting the inanity of catch and release and how Democrats use the phrase due process as another way of saying they’re not going to do anything about immigration enforcement. No one wants to hear about due process for people who commit crimes and who are also here illegally.  

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If this were an MSNBC or CNN segment, Stephen A. might never be invited again. Luckily, this is HBO. It’s Maher's show, and he isn’t afraid of debate. 

Maher then attacked the illiberal zombies among Gen Z for popping champagne over the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was murdered by Luigi Mangione last December outside of the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York City. Thompson was there for a shareholders meeting. Maher didn’t hold back on his criticism of the healthcare industry but also noted that killing Thompson was hardly any revolutionary act that would induce change. It’s not the insurers but the hospitals who drive up costs. In all, Maher brutalizes the lefty youth as lazy social justice warriors who know next to nothing about the issue that they whine about on TikTok. 

Maher also noted how this cheering for assassinations obliterates the Left’s crusade for stronger gun control laws. He’s saying it but not accepting that liberalism today is unhinged, unprincipled, and off the rails. The HBO host, as does ESPN’s Smith, knows the latter, but give it time. Maybe they’ll come around and jettison from this movement because the crazy will only get worse.