Bill O’Reilly and Stephen A. Smith found themselves on opposite sides while debating President Donald Trump’s presence at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
During Tuesday’s episode of “No Spin News,” Smith, who was already quite outspoken about Trump’s decision to attend the high-profiled game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, doubled down on his stance.
Per Smith, his criticism had “absolutely positively nothing to do with politics,” noting, “It was the inconvenience his arrival was going to cause to the congestion in New York City.”
As the sports analyst went on, he highlighted how Trump’s attendance at the game caused long entry times into Madison Square Garden, impacted watch party plans and hurt the team’s “mojo.”
Though, O’Reilly defended that a handful of arrests occurred at the relocated watch parties, indicating Trump may’ve “done the city a favor.”
“I was not aware of that, but I don’t care,” Smith responded. And I’m going to tell you why I don’t care. If and when the New York Knicks win a championship, there will be a celebration. There will be a parade.”
He continued: “There’s going to be mayhem in the streets. And we know more arrests are going to come as has always been the case.”
Later in the conversation, O’Reilly asked Smith to respond to Trump questioning his intelligence after the sports analyst publicly said the president should not attend the game.
“Listen, that’s his default position. when you do something that irritates him, he’s going to question your IQ in most situations,” Smith said. “He’s done it with a bevy of individuals … I know Black folks in the community, in my community, they want to sit up there and act like it’s a racist thing and whatever. I’ve seen him call plenty of white people low IQ. So, I’m not going there.”
He once again reiterated that Trump “should have been sensitive enough to know that you could derail [the momentum] because of the inconvenience,” indicating the president was to blame for the Knicks’ loss on Monday.
“The momentum and the fervor that the New York Knicks were riding that you interrupted with your presence,” Smith added. “You didn’t need to be there.”
However, O’Reilly remained unconvinced and defended that Trump’s presence “had no effect on the Knicks losing at all.”
“I believe if the New York Knicks had that watch party and Donald Trump wasn’t there, they’d have won last night,” Smith responded. To which O’Reilly chimed in with: “I believe that you’re living in a fantasy world … From what I saw, Trump was asleep most of the game.”
As Smith claimed that a real Knicks fan wouldn’t risk hurting the “mojo” or “momentum” of the team, O’Reilly said he “could say the same thing about [Smith],” adding, “Knicks lost because you’re in the building and they were scared of you. They didn’t want you to criticize them.”
“Time out. Time out. Time out. Time out,” Smith hit back. “I was in the building when they won games one and two. I’ve been covering the series. So, how you going to say that? You’re wrong about that. Once again, Bill, this is sports. Now, listen. I defer to you when it come to the politics. You need to defer to me when it come to the sports.”
Watch their full debate above.
