ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith criticized President Biden for engaging in what he viewed as racial tropes during a campaign visit.
Biden and the North Carolina governor had picked up fried chicken from a restaurant and then Biden visited the home of a Black family, where they shared the chicken dinner.
Smith said the imagery of a Black family eating fried chicken with the president plays into racist stereotypes.
“First of all, we all know about racial tropes, do we not?” Smith said. “Racist tropes. Have you ever heard of that? Where people sit up there and try to use things to intimate something else of a racially insensitive nature? So Black folks with the president and fried chicken ain’t the greatest look.”
He also argued Biden’s advanced age made the fried chicken an unhealthy choice.
“What the hell are you doing eating fried chicken?” Smith said. “You’re 81! What 81 you know is munching on fried chicken? You ain’t been in the greatest health in a lot of people’s eyes, you know, so eating some fried chicken ain’t the greatest look.”
“I wanna know who the hell came out with that idea!” he said.
Smith further ripped whoever came up with the idea, saying Trump and the GOP could exploit it, as many would consider a similar scene with Trump racist.
“Because you [Trump] and the GOP are gonna use that to their advantage, right? And they’ll be right to do so because, ladies and gentlemen, if we’re being fair, if we saw Donald Trump sitting down in a Black household eating fried chicken with a father and a son, what would we say? You know, folks out there would be calling it racist! Well, if it’s racist for him — and I’m not saying it would be — but if it’s racist for him, why wouldn’t it be racist for Biden?”
While typically focusing on sports, Smith’s comments came during a segment where he discusses broader current events and politics.
