Stephen A. Smith Praises Donald Trump's Accomplishment: 'It's True'

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith offered praise for a particular accomplishment of former President Donald Trump during a recent interview.

Smith is a sports journalist and media personality known for his generally boisterous demeanor and for co-hosting ESPN's First Take. While not typically known for discussing political matters, Smith has in the past discussed Trump, saying earlier this year that he had enjoyed several interactions with him before he was elected president.

Nevertheless, he also noted that he would not consider voting for Trump in 2024, not due to any particular policy matters, but for his poor "statesmanship" and divisive behavior.

On Tuesday, Smith appeared in a video interview shared to YouTube by conservative radio host Clay Travis. While Travis has described himself in the past as a moderate, he voted for Trump in 2020 and has emerged as a generally pro-Trump media figure, with the Daily Beast characterizing him as a "MAGA radio host" and accusing him of spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

At one point in the interview, Smith touched on the 2024 presidential election, saying that he is not "enamored" with either Trump or President Joe Biden, but said that he is not as down on some of the former president's policies as many are and offered him praise for one accomplishment in particular: funding historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

"I'm from an HBCU, I know that he did things for HBCUs," Smith said.

Smith also said that he believes a 2024 victory by Trump, who has a commanding lead for the race for the GOP nomination, could bring about another civil war in the U.S.

Trump signed into law a bipartisan bill that restored considerable federal funding for HBCUs and other institutions with predominantly minority student bodies, providing a permanent increase in yearly funding of more than $250 million, with $85 million specifically going to the 102 institutions classified as HBCUs.

The move came in December 2019, after federal funding lapsed for the schools at the end of September, causing many of them to begin considering deep budget cuts.

"When I took office, I promised to fight for HBCUs, and my administration continues to deliver," Trump said at the time. "A few months ago, funding for HBCUs was in jeopardy. But the White House and Congress came together and reached a historic agreement."

Later comments from Trump claiming that he had "saved HBCUs" were, however, found to be hyperbolic in a fact-check by Inside Higher Ed. While it said that Trump's bill was a major help for the schools, it found that it wasn't "responsible for keeping their doors open."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's team via email for comment.