Stephen A. Smith uses ‘First Take’ airtime to taunt Donald Trump over ‘IQ’ jab

On Tuesday morning in the First Take studios, standing in front of a full-size screen bearing a massive American flag animation with a patriotic march blaring in the background, Stephen A Smith hit back at President Donald Trump after the president suggested Smith was not smart enough to enter politics.

The saga began when Smith posted a monologue on his YouTube channel, imploring Trump not to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals, saying he was worried the president would add to the “chaos” around the game at Madison Square Garden.

Later, Smith said he would blame Trump if the Knicks lost the game, which they did. And when Trump returned to Washington, D.C., after the game, reporters asked him about Smith’s comments.

“I think he’s a nice guy,” Trump said of Smith. “But you need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does actually.”

Never one to let a public conflict pass him by, Smith took several minutes near the end of First Take to address the president directly.

“You wanna talk about IQ, I could say I’d put my IQ against yours any day of the week,” Smith said. ” I could go one better. I could ask you why you been running from me for the last year since I wanted to talk to. I could ask you to debate me, since you think you’re that dude. We could go a myriad of ways with all of this. But I’m not going to let you off the hook, because none of that is important.”

Stephen A Smith responds to Donald Trump calling him a low IQ individual on First Take:

“You wanna talk about IQ, I could say I could put my IQ against yours, I got something even better I could ask you why you been running from me for the past year since I asked you to talk to… https://t.co/iI1DpLjkRbpic.twitter.com/Edon6R1fzF

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) June 9, 2026

Smith proceeded to offer a populist defense of the business owners and residents of lower Manhattan, who Smith said lost out on money and opportunity because the president’s arrival led several blocks of the city to be shut down.

“This is a sports show, so I won’t go any further than that,” Smith said.

“Except to say, (Jalen) Brunson played better when you weren’t there. (Mikal) Bridges played better when you weren’t there. Karl-Anthony Towns played better when you weren’t there, Landry Shamet played better when you weren’t there. The crowd was festive, hyped, and more intimidating when you weren’t there. Businesses were thriving before you showed up. Parking garages were being fed before you showed up. There was noise reverberating off the walls of Madison Square Garden before you showed up.”

“I thought you were a New Yorker, Mr. President. I thought you cared. I thought it mattered to you, Gotham City, the New York Knicks, the erasing of a 53-year drought. I thought that mattered to you.”

The First Take host then took a shot at the president’s need for “rest,” a potential allusion to viral videos showing Trump may have dozed off during Game 3, where he sat in a suite alongside Knicks owner James Dolan. And Smith teased that he would have more to say later on, away from ESPN.

“It’s clear you need your rest, isn’t it?” Smith said. “More extensive analysis of your betrayal to New Yorkers will come a little bit later on my own platform.”

This level of grandeur and performance is nothing new for Smith or First Take. But for the star ESPN host to take up multiple minutes taunting the president directly over supposed private grudges and petty grievances is a new level. The line for what type of non-sports and even political commentary the Worldwide Leader will allow on its airwaves is almost impossible to measure these days.

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