Stephen A. Smith criticizes Trump’s trial to silence money: ‘I want him to lose the right path’

Stephen A. Smith criticized the secret trial against former President Trump in comments Thursday, saying he wants to see him “lose the right path.”

As a primarily Democratic voter, the sports commentator said he was “utterly disgusted” by Trump’s criminal trial, which began Monday with jury selection. Smith said he sees this as an attempt by Democrats to politicize the courts as they are unable to stop the former president’s momentum in the polls.

“That seems to be their strategy, but I’ll tell you, it’s not working. It’s not working at all,” Smith told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday. “And to be honest, I don’t care that it’s not working because I may not be a Donald Trump supporter, but I want him to lose his way.”

“I want him to lose because you have better ideas and present your case to the American people better than he does. That’s why I want him to lose,” he continued, quoting President Biden. “I don’t want him to lose the way they’re trying to make him lose.”

Trump made history as the first US president to face a criminal trial when his trial began in Manhattan this week.

The case alleges that Trump illegally falsified business records when reimbursing his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for paying adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair before the 2016 presidential election.

Including this case and others, the former president faces 88 criminal charges across four indictments. It remains unclear whether any of his other cases will reach a jury before the November election, where he is the presumptive Republican nominee.

Smith argued that Democrats who pushed for Trump’s trial to begin before the election, which it did on Monday despite their attempts to delay it, are just showing that they are afraid that Biden will not be able to beat Trump in the polls.

According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Trump currently leads Biden by 0.08 percent in national polls. A poll conducted in mid-March found that 44% of respondents said their vote would not change even if Trump were convicted in the silence trial.