Stephen A. Smith wants to be taken seriously as a political voice. He’s floated a presidential run, sat down with Sean Hannity again and again, and spent the past year telling Democrats what’s wrong with them. This week showed why that’s a hard sell: on Wednesday he laughed on national TV at a football player who stepped away to protect his mental health, then said people “misconstrued” him.
What did Stephen A. Smith say about Lane Johnson?
This week, Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson, 36, retired four games into his 14th season, writing that “it is critical to focus on my mental health.” Johnson has spoken publicly for years about anxiety and depression.
On Wednesday’s First Take, Smith tied the decision to the Eagles’ 2-2 start, according to Awful Announcing. “Now, he calls it quits. Not before the season. Not in the offseason. Oh, no, no, no, no!” he said, laughing. “After being subjected to this, he said, ‘Life is a little bit too short. I need to focus’ — what did he say? His mental health? Am I making it up?” His co-host Kimberley A. Martin told him on air he was making light of it.
That afternoon, Smith posted a clip from his radio show captioned, “Sorry for the misunderstanding regarding my comments on First Take this morning.” In it, he said people “misconstrued me minimizing mental health,” shared that he struggled after his mother’s death in 2017, and then repeated the joke about the Eagles’ stress, calling it “facetious.”
Fox NFL reporter Greg Auman summed up the reaction: “What’s the misunderstanding? You laughed at someone on TV and questioned the validity of someone citing mental health as a reason for change in their life.”
What has Stephen A. Smith said about Elizabeth Warren and Democrats?
Smith has made a second career of scolding Democrats, often on Fox. In March 2025, he said of Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “Every time I listen to her speak, she makes me feel like if you don’t agree with her, you’re destined for hell,” and said that’s why he had no desire to interview her. He has called Democrats condescending and lectured the party about how it lost.
He’s appeared with Hannity repeatedly this year, including a March interview where he said he isn’t running for president because “if I have to give up my money, it’s not happening.”
Is Stephen A. Smith a Trump ally?
Not exactly, and that’s the strange part. In June, after Smith criticized Trump for attending an NBA Finals game, the president called him “low IQ” and an “arrogant fool,” Rolling Stone reported. Smith fired back and challenged Trump to a debate. Smith isn’t a loyal Trump soldier. He’s something more familiar on cable: a personality who goes where the attention is, and right now the attention is in attacking Democrats on Fox.
The BeezLoop Take
Smith is entitled to his politics, and Democrats could stand to hear some criticism. The problem is the act. He lectures a party about being condescending, then mocks a player for prioritizing his mental health and calls the backlash a misunderstanding. He calls Warren preachy, then preaches every morning for a living.
The Lane Johnson moment matters because it’s the same move his political commentary relies on: say something provocative, collect the reaction, then insist you were misread. That works for sports debate TV. It’s a bad fit for someone asking to be taken seriously on public issues, especially on mental health, an issue that touches millions of the fans who watch him every morning.
Real accountability would have been simple: “I was wrong, and I’m sorry, Lane.” The open question is whether someone who can’t say that should be shaping how millions of people think about politics.
Also on BeezLoop: Trump, Will Cain and Megyn Kelly rushed to defend the Cornell 7, and Fox News’s Ukraine crew was told to stay inside Kyiv.
Sources: Awful Announcing · Pro Football Network · Fox News (Warren remarks, 2025) · Rolling Stone (Trump “low IQ”) · Deadline (Hannity interview) · Stephen A. Smith on X
