As Stephen A. Smith continues to ramp up his political commentary, which is consistently aimed at more conservative voters, the narrative that ESPN is “woke” continues to lose much of its credibility, given the clear leanings and commentary of its most prominent personalities.
In the span of just a few days, Smith has provided ample commentary in the mold of a surrogate for the Republican Party. He’s voiced support for Riley Gaines in the transgender athlete debate, backed Kristi Noem’s hardline immigration posturing, and now piled on Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla for confronting Noem at a press conference.
Smith ripped into Padilla for interrupting Noem’s press conference, in which the former South Dakota governor claimed that the Trump administration was on the ground in California to liberate the Golden State from its socialist warlords.
“Here you have this senator, Alex Padilla, can Kristi Noem speak?” Smith asked on his independent podcast platform. “Could you have waited until she finished to ask your questions? To shout your questions? You’re a senator, right? You couldn’t wait? That was just you out of control because you were just losing it. You, a United States senator, couldn’t compose yourself and let the head of Homeland Security finish her thoughts before you asked a question. Couldn’t do that, huh?”
ESPN’s $100 million man later made it a point to note that while Noem’s security detail was well within its right to manhandle and detain Padilla physically, handcuffing a sitting U.S. senator was a bridge too far.
Padilla was there because Noem was helping the Department of Homeland Security promote a renewed push for ICE raids, all in the name of protecting the homeland, which they frame as being aimed at cartel henchmen and foreign terrorists.
And when Padilla, a Latino senator from California with deep ties to immigrant communities, pressed her on those raids, he was tackled, handcuffed, and dragged out by security despite identifying himself as a California senator.
BREAKING: California Democratic Senator @AlexPadilla4CA just crashed DHS Secretary Noem’s press conference in LA and was forcibly removed. pic.twitter.com/Q2sUWiImAM
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 12, 2025
Noem later claimed he didn’t identify himself.
Smith eventually tried to reframe the whole thing as a “both sides” situation — a familiar landing spot for his commentary — conceding that both Padilla and the Trump administration were at fault.
“They didn’t need to put you on the ground,” Smith said. “They didn’t need to handcuff you. All they needed to do was kick you out of the room. You’re a United States senator. Very disrespectful. Comes across as authoritarian, President Trump. Crossing the line without question. Without question!”
That take wasn’t endorsed by the DHS, though, but Smith’s original comments were.
What @stephenasmith said. https://t.co/tJnDXQgGXO pic.twitter.com/4MBtCXZFpG
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 13, 2025
“But, they didn’t arrest him. They did let him go,” Smith continued. “And within minutes, he was outside holding his own press conference… So, let’s take that into consideration.”
Earlier in the segment, Smith accused Padilla of grandstanding, claiming the senator was trying to prop himself up politically. He questioned whether Padilla had any actual strategy, saying it’s “admirable” to fight for migrants but that the political math doesn’t work in his favor. Per Smith, most Americans support Trump’s deportation agenda, and that gives Trump “the benefit of the doubt.”
While Smith might be right about the polling, though that’s starting to shift, he leaves out the part where federal judges have repeatedly slapped down Trump’s immigration agenda. The deportation blueprint has tripped every constitutional wire in its path.
Smith’s shown flashes of political savvy, but he rarely sticks around for the nuance. In his view, Padilla is playing a losing hand. That’s a take which the DHS had no problem amplifying.
Later on, Smith circled back to Trump’s comments, criticizing the former president for calling protesters opposing ICE raids in L.A. “insurrectionists.”
But while he framed his rant as a “both sides” critique, the Department of Homeland Security only heard the part they liked. Which, again, is how partisan politics usually works.
Smith made this a referendum on Padilla’s behavior. And now that DHS is amplifying the friendlier half of his commentary, don’t be surprised if Stephen A. keeps wading deeper into politics, especially with the kind of positive reinforcement he’s getting.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.