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President Trump's Bizarre Harlem Rant When Stephen A. Asks About Harvard | TMZ Live
TMZ
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5/1/2025
Stephen A. Smith's gotta be scratching his head this morning after President Donald Trump ranted to him about Harlem and Black people ... when Stephen A. asked him about Harvard.
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00:00
This is, wow.
00:02
Buckle up, because there was a town hall meeting with President Trump on News Nation last night.
00:08
You had Chris Cuomo, you had Bill O'Reilly, and a guest to this arena.
00:16
Stephen A. Smith.
00:16
Stephen A. Smith, who of course is the famed sports pundit, NBA expert,
00:22
but last night he wasn't talking playoffs, he was talking politics with the president.
00:25
And at one point during the conversation, Stephen A. brought up a very big issue right now for the president,
00:32
which is his battle with Harvard University, and withdrawing billions of dollars of grants to the university.
00:40
So Stephen poses that question.
00:43
Why in the world President Trump's response was basically that they love me in Harlem?
00:48
I don't know. Watch this, and then we're going to get into it.
00:51
When people think about Harvard, what they're basically talking about is they're asking,
00:56
what do you say to those who view your actions as an attack on academic freedom rather than a defense of fairness?
01:03
What do you say to that?
01:04
Well, I say this. We had riots in Harlem, and frankly, if you look at what's gone on,
01:12
and people from Harlem went up and they protested, Stephen, and they protested very strongly against Harvard.
01:18
They happened to be on my side.
01:20
You know, I got a very high black vote.
01:24
You know that.
01:25
I did opportunity zones for one of the greatest economic deals ever for the black and Hispanic community.
01:33
I got tremendous.
01:34
They agree with what I'm doing with respect to Harvard.
01:37
Harvard gets $4 or $5 billion a year from the United States government in the form of grants,
01:45
and they have $53 billion, and yet they don't treat the people right.
01:50
So the president meandered into the real discussion of Harvard.
01:56
30 seconds.
01:56
But the Harlem thing and the black voters support him and all of that.
02:01
Number one, I wonder, did somebody pass him a note because he was on the phone and say, it's about Harvard?
02:11
The question was about Harvard, sir.
02:12
Why did he start with a Stephen A. Smith question?
02:15
I mean, one way.
02:16
That was specifically, by the way, not just about Harvard, but he said about academic freedom.
02:21
Right.
02:22
And then immediately starts talking about Harlem and black people.
02:25
You guys didn't understand that answer?
02:28
No, it did make sense.
02:29
If I had to guess, I would think that he originally misheard Stephen A. Smith's question,
02:34
and then I think you're right, Harvey or Charles, I don't know who said it.
02:37
I think somebody probably did whisper or slip him a note like, hey, you didn't ask about Harlem here.
02:41
Yeah, but—
02:42
That or he's got talking points.
02:43
But, Mike, academic—he specifically said academic freedom.
02:46
So there's no way—even if you misheard, even if he did hear Harlem instead of Harvard,
02:53
what the hell does academic freedom have to do?
02:55
Well, why don't you close the loop and say what you think?
02:57
Because you think he said it because Stephen A. Smith is black.
03:00
I mean, that's what you're saying, right?
03:01
Yes, because he immediately saw that the person asking the question was black,
03:05
and so let me give him what he believes to be his credentials in the black community before anything else,
03:12
even though it has nothing to do with the topic.
03:14
There is absolutely no question in anyone's mind who watched that video
03:18
other than he saw a black man speaking to him, and he saw that association,
03:22
and started talking about Harlem.
03:24
Now, I don't say he did this with malice, that he hates black people,
03:26
but in his brain somewhere, subconsciously, a black man speaking must be talking about a black topic.
03:30
I gotta suck up to the guy who's asking me the question,
03:32
so he'll like me, and he won't follow up and ask me a harder question.
03:36
Hi, my name is Medusa.
03:38
I'm reporting live from Philly, and my comment is that Donald Trump is a liar.
03:42
He don't know nothing that he's talking about.
03:44
All he do is lie.
03:45
As far as we know, we know that majority of black people voted for Kamala Harris.
03:50
He must have us mistaken for the Latino community.
03:54
But as far as the black community goes, we don't care for you, and he know that.
03:57
So, bye, Donald.
04:00
Look, he did get more support from the black community than I think pretty much any Republican this century.
04:09
But that ain't going to help it.
04:11
That was weird.
04:14
You know, the Jews love me, Harvey.
04:16
The Jews love me.
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