Van Lathan Calls Out Stephen A. Smith Over Comments on Black Voters and the GOP

Van Lathan has criticized ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, asserting that Smith is clearly a Republican and suggesting that his political prospects would be more successful within the GOP than the Democratic Party.

Speaking on the Press Box podcast with host Bryan Curtis, Lathan argued that Smith’s public stances and defenses indicate a deep-seated political identity aligned with the Republican Party.

Lathan based this assessment on a theory regarding identity and how individuals react to attacks on their beliefs. He suggested that the robustness with which a person defends a specific position often reveals their true identity, even if they do not explicitly claim that label.

Critique of Political Alignment

Lathan pointed to a specific interaction involving Donald Trump and Jasmine Crockett as evidence of Smith’s political leanings. He claimed that during a back-and-forth between the two, Smith took the side of the president.

Lathan noted that while Crockett, a Black woman, was being called dumb by the president, Smith focused his critiques on how Crockett should respond rather than criticizing the president’s language.

Lathan concluded that Smith’s tendency to defend Trump in this context was a reflection of Smith’s own identity, stating that Smith acted this way because he’s one of them.

The Vanderbilt Speech and Voting Strategy

These comments follow a discussion on Cam Newton’s Funky Friday podcast, where Stephen A. Smith detailed his views on the power of the Black vote and his foray into political discourse.

During the podcast, Smith recalled a speech he delivered at Vanderbilt University. In that address, Smith proposed a strategic shift in voting behavior for the Black community to increase their political leverage.

I wish for one election that every black person would vote Republican. And I said, it’s simple. Since 1964, Black people have been giving our vote to the Democratic Party at an exorbitant rate.

Stephen A. Smith

Smith argued that this consistent voting pattern has led the Democratic Party to take Black voters for granted, suggesting that the party feels they do not have to cater to the community because the votes are guaranteed.

Conversely, Smith suggested that the Republican Party ignores the community because they believe they will never receive those votes. He asserted that this dynamic has left the community devoid of representation and rendered them disenfranchised within the American political system.

Identity and Public Perception

Lathan’s critique focuses on the psychological aspect of Smith’s political commentary. He discussed his own reflections on identity, noting that personalizing an attack is often a sign of identification with the target of that attack.

The reason why people defend things so robustly when they’re attacked, even if they’re not directly a part of them, is because they see themselves as that and they feel that attack. They personalize that attack. You identify with that; that is your identity.

Van Lathan

By applying this logic to Smith’s public commentary, Lathan argued that Smith’s defense of GOP figures and his strategic advice regarding Republican voting patterns are not merely tactical observations, but indicators of his true political affiliation.