Monday on FNC’s “Hannity,” ESPN host Stephen A. Smith reacted to the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) awarding him a “thumbs down” label.
Smith was defiant, saying he would not back up “one inch.”
“Unfortunately, because you have folks within the liberal community, in the modern liberal community — I’m not talking about traditional Democrats that are relatively moderate,” Smith said. “I’m talking about these folks that have really regressed as far as I’m concerned. And their attitude is that you have to parrot their speech lock, stock, and barrel or you’re absolutely positively against them. Sean, on my show, “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.”, I’ve had a show on POTUS Radio on SiriusXM Channel 124 every Wednesday night from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. since September 17. I’ve had 60 guests on the show — 30 Republicans, 30 Democrats.”
He continued, “I’m a registered independent. I believe in being fair and exercising common sense. There are things that I disagree with about the president and his administration. You know that. There are things that I disagree with the left about. I’m fair and even-handed. That’s not good enough. I understand that being the case with most people in America if you have your political tilt that you want to lean towards, but that should not be applicable to a journalist organization. The National Association for Black Journalists, it’s not the entire organization. It was just a few board members that tried to give the impression the entire organization is against me. There’s a whole bunch of people that were at the — at the convention that spoke adamantly and emphatically against their decision to do that and in support of me. But nevertheless, a few board members decided to make this decision. And as far as I’m concerned, they will regret it because I’m not going away.”
“If anything, they’ve made me more intense,” he added. “They’ve made me more adamant about my positions and the manner in which I’m going to go about doing what I do. I don’t back up and nobody’s going to intimidate me from being who I am. And that is a fair-minded individual that calls balls and strikes and it’s going to be fair to both sides of the aisle no matter what the hell they say. I’m not backing up one inch. As far as I’m concerned all they’ve done is stirred me up. That’s all they’ve done. That’s all they’ve done.”
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