The Stephen A. Smith ShowInterview: GOP Pollster Frank Luntz pick's VP Harris as the debate winner with a caveat.
Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.
Stephen A. recaps the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump presidential debate with GOP Pollster Frank Luntz.
He is an upholster, extraordinary, somebody that everybody knows because when it comes to looking at the polls, whether it's Republican or Democrat, but for the most part Republican. I if I'm mistaken, I apologize, sir, but that is his reputation. He is on top of these elections day in, day out, night in, night out.
This is what he does.
He is arguably the most renowned in the business when it comes to this. I'm talking about the one and only Frank Luntz, who is on the show with yours truly right now.
What's up, my man? How are you? How's everything?
I can't believe I'm doing this for you. I can't. So we know each other a little bit. You and I probably spent three or four times together in the last fifteen twenty years. The fact that I'm on your show is remarkable to me. I want you to know that you and Chris Cuomo have the most amazing chemistry and you're at the top of your game, and I want all yours and your viewers to know this. We worked for ESPN several years ago, and no sports journalist ever tested as well as you did in your commentaries. Whether people agree and disagree. They love your attitude, they love your approach, and they think you are awesome what you do. So thanks for including me, and hopefully the signal I'm at West Points doesn't have the best signal of the world. Hopefully it's good enough that I can communicate with you and your listeners.
Thank you so much. I'm honored to get those words from you. I really really appreciated it. For the benefit of my listeners, I have agreed to come up to West Point on October twenty ninth to speak at West Point. You have invited me, and I'm going to speak. If I remember correctly, I believe it is to over seven hundred cadets.
Is that correct.
We never know. One can never promise exactly how many people are going to be there because we don't know what situation we're going to be in. But you're going to actually have lunch with all four thousand of them, and you, mister Smith, have to bring them their food and clear their table.
Oh, I will happily do so. I will happily do so.
Let's get into the debate that took place last night, because it's inescapable. We have to do that. You heard what I said. I think that Kamala Harris won the debate last night. I think she came across as a bit more polished, more prepared, certainly avoided some of the issues, but it ain't her job to make sure the issues are brought up.
It's the opponent's jobs to make.
Sure that they get after her, and Trump seemed ill prepared to do so.
Your overall thoughts on the performance of both well.
I actually think it's the responsibility of the candidates to tell us the truth, to let us know what we need to know, and it's our right to demand it from the candidates. And I have to explain to people that I'm less concerned about this election and more concerned about the next generation, about how ugly you might become, how partisan, how divided, polarized, and toxic second is. I don't believe it's as much as she won last night, as Trump lost number one. He did not focus on the issue that mattered most, inflation, And I cannot explain why, because he was given to him several times, and every time he got a question on inflation, he answered on something else. Third, he lost his composure. He looked mean, he looked angry, He never looked at her. Do you realize how many women looked at him and said, you know what, that's my ex husband, that's the son that really bothers me. It makes them mad that you show that kind of contempt for your opponents, that you can't even look them straight in the eye. You're showing the video behind you. Watch how often there she goes, she turns and looks at him. Because it's a sign of respect, it says, sign of human interaction. He didn't have it. Four. I don't know what the hell this is about eating dogs and cats. I don't understand any of that. It's what he talked about. It's what everyone's talking about today. And number five, he had a great conclusion, a great closing. If you understand that these problems exist, why have you done nothing about them? That's what he asked to Harris. But the other one hundred minutes it was a disaster for him. Now she okay. You can say that she should have been more candid. You can say that it's up to Trump to force it from her, but she should want to provide it. We need more truth in this country. We need more candor in this country. We need less politics. It's not who wins and who loses, but it actually is to some degree, how we play the game that matters. This isn't entertainment, this isn't sports.
Right and do that.
But Frank, allow me to interject. I get that, and I totally agree with you for I benefit. But if you're trying to win the election and inflation is a huge problem and you don't necessarily have a potent enough argument to offset what he might throw at you, I'm not gonna knock her for not inviting the subject or trying.
To be evasive with it.
If you've got a border issue and it's ten and a half million immigrants crossing the borders illegally, and you know that can cost you votes with Independent, I'm not gonna get on her for trying to.
Evade the subject.
If he is not adroit enough to bring it up and to address her and attack her cogingly on the subject, that's his problem, one could easily argue, wouldn't you say, I, yes.
This is problem, but it's our problem because in the end, she's gonna win, and in the end we have to deal with whatever she says. Whatever she does is going to affect us. So I'd rather have people up there who tell the truth. I'm going to this to you. You've never held back in your career, even in times when if I were advising you, I would have said, don't deal with that issue. Don't say it that way. Your truth teller, your attitude is exactly what I wish we had in politics, which is people said what they meant, meant what they said, and then did what they said. And that has not been happening in American politics. She's an example of this. I thought last night she beat him, but in the end it was not good for anybody, and the real loser last night was an America.
You tweeted this that Trump was about Trump blowing the election. You've never seen anyone that has done so much to blow its election. It falls in line what I've indicated that I think is gonna be good. It's gonna go down as the biggest choke job in political history.
What do you say to that? Explain?
It's very easy. And there are two tweets I was tweeting all through the debate last night, and there are two tweets that I'll raise with you on this show. One when I was critical of him and his people went crazy on me, and one when I was critical of Harris and hurt, people went crazy on me. In his case, if you want to have that comparison, that side by side comparison, which he did on inflation and immigration, then you have to draw. You have to give the numbers, and you have to explain why it happened and what your solutions are. And he couldn't wait to get off of inflation to talk about anything but inflation. And it's so easy, Stephen. It's food and fuel, housing and healthcare F squared, H squared, and it affects people in their day to day lives and affects their long term quality of life. As far as immigration, it's not just about what's happening at the border. It's safety and security and doing those things to make the country strong. He can show easily that the decisions of the Biden Harris campaign made things worse for Americans at the border and across the country. I also want to address a tweet that I said about her, because I know that it's blown up. Why I criticize the facial questions. Don't do it there, you go, don't do it. People saw it as acting. They saw it as fake. She's raising legitimate points, but it's hurting her credibility, and it did fit into female sterois. People went nuts on me for saying this. This is the truth that she undercut her message. But for some reason, I'm not allowed to bring it up. Because I can criticize him for his behavior, and that's okay, I can't criticize her for doing the same thing. I'm a debate coach, I am an expert of body language. These are things that I've been studying for forty years now, and she undercut Look at that, Look who sits that way? Who puts their hand like that underneath I don't know if you edited this just for this program, but it was constant. And the publics because I'm watching him with over two hundred people, and they're booing her for this. They thought she had a better communication, They thought she gave better messaging, but they thought that the facial expressions undermine her credibility.
But Frank real quickly, when you say you were sitting with two hundred people, how many of them were conservatives, lash Republicans, how many of them were liberals, lash progressives?
How many of them were independents?
It was everyone. It was everyone left, center, right, It was the entire gambit of politics. And I went emphasize. These people thought she won the debate, but they thought that she underc her messaging with that with facial acting, is what they said. But what.
If she's able to make the argument that I was sitting like this and I was laughing and what have you. Because by mocking him seemingly, I knew it would agitate him, which ultimately lit itself towards me winning the debate because I got him off key, I got him off message, and that was the objective of it.
One could easily argue that point.
Frank, Yes they could, But they're agitating Trump and at the same time they're agitating the millions and tens of millions of people watching the debate. So you agitated the candidate who you're running against, but you're agitating the people who support you. Look, we all do it. You do it with your voice, I do it with my hands. We all do it, or we're not all running for president. And in the end, authenticity, genuineness, candor is what the public is looking for, not an actor.
Two more questions before I'll let you get on out of here. Number one.
A lot of people out there are saying that it was three against one, that they were, that the moderators were all over him, but.
They let her off the hook.
I just felt it was her agitating him, and they were flowing with that. But nevertheless, I know that the right is going to have a different opinion than the left, and I get that.
What was your take on that?
I wondered how many times they fact checked him, which is very legitimate, but they should have done the same thing with her. I thought it would have been the outcome would have been the perception of a more balanced the debate. Now, he did get six extra minutes in her, So if you're saying that this whole thing was set up to make him look bad and make her look good, they gave him six extra minutes. Here's the problem. The more he spoke, the worse he got. He should speak less and Harris should speak more. The only time that we've ever had in modern politics where candidate actually did damage by talking more with Sarah Palin running for vice president under John McCain in twenty twelve. Yeah, sorry, in twenty eight the more she spoke, the worse of God for.
Her last question to you, does Trump need another debate or should he avoid it and just march to the election, have his rallies, let her have her rallies, and let the American people decide that way.
What is your suggestion? Who needs?
What? Did you ut? Make decisions based on side by side comparisons, and you notice the split screen during the entire debate. Side by side is his only opportunity to take her on. But frankly, if I'm her campaign and he's already said that he won't accept the Fox News hosts, I'm going to say, you know what, we offered it to them. He didn't want to do it. Fine, you'll go his way. We'll go way, and we'll go right through election day and then she wins. He needs to get on his knees and beg for another debate, and guess what, he ain't gonna do it because Donald Trump doesn't beg, he doesn't admit mistakes, he has no humility, and all of these are gonna hurt him come election day.
So you think that Kamala Harris is gonna win the election? If you had to guess today, you'd say she's gonna win today.
And you emphasize the point today. As of today, Harris is the next president. She will need a slip up. Trump cannot do it alone. Harris will have to say something, something very upsetting to a large number of people for her to lose at this point, Is it possible? Absolutely? Is it likely?
No post extraordinary One and only Frank once right here, right on the Steven A. Smithchell for the very first time. I appreciate you, my man. Thank you so much. You know I'll be calling you as this election draws. NIA appreciate you so much. Thank you, my man. Take care of yourself.
You got it, man, The.
One and only Frank Launch right here with Stephen.
That you heard what he had to say.
If the election were to day, Kamala Harris would be the next president of the United States, and that Donald Trump needs to beg for a second debate, which we all know he will never do.
There you have it. There, you have it.
