Stephen A. Smith: Democrats will likely win midterms, but they ‘will mess up anything’

In The Know Stephen A. Smith: Democrats will likely win midterms, but they ‘will mess up anything’ Comments: by Sylvan Lane - 06/29/26 10:17 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Sylvan Lane - 06/29/26 10:17 AM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

Stephen A. Smith predicted that Democrats have a 75 percent chance of winning the midterm elections and gaining control of at least one of the chambers of Congress — but that they could still blow it.

“Democrats can blow anything. The Democrats could blow a 29-point lead, just the way the San Antonio Spurs did in the playoffs,” Smith said, referencing the New York Knicks’ come-from-behind win in Game 4 during this month’s NBA Finals.

“Don’t put anything past the Democrats when it comes to that. They will get in their own way. They will mess up anything if you give them an opportunity to, because they’re divided, they’re fragmented,” Smith said when ITK caught up with him at the Mark Twain Prize ceremony at the Kennedy Center on Sunday.

“You got the left and then you got the progressive left. We saw what happened in New York with [Zohran Mamdani] and some of the candidates that he endorsed,” Smith said of New York City’s democratic socialist mayor, who backed three House candidates who last week all went on to win their primaries.

“We see what Gavin Newsom is trying to do in California,” ESPN’S “First Take” host continued of the Golden State’s Democratic governor.

“You see a level of progressivism that’s taking hold in states like New York and LA. And even though that may be something that would never win a general [election], nevertheless, it’s gaining momentum. The president has spoken out against that,” Smith, 58, said.

“What that’s going to materialize into remains to be seen, but in the end, what it comes down to is that they’re gaining traction enough to force some of the folks on the left to either capitulate or be very quiet and not as forceful as they need to be in defending liberalism, but one that’s not too extreme to the left.”

“Because of that, you’re a party that’s fragmented, which means you’re leaderless. And if you’re leaderless, how can you take over?”

Despite the fractures, Smith said Democrats had a 75 percent chance of winning the November midterm elections.

“That’s not a testament to the Democrats, like they’ve done something right. It’s just that the Republicans have done a lot of things wrong,” Smith said.

“I don’t think they’ve shown enough of a spine or willingness to stand up and fend off some of the things that Donald Trump wants to do,” the media personality said.

“I’m not here to take sides,” he said. “But the point is the elected officials were brought on Capitol Hill to serve the American people and the constituents that they represent — not the president.”

“On far too many occasions, we’ve seen them operating from a different stratosphere. They’ve been operating like they’re beholden to him,” Smith said of Republicans, before noting Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the Lone Star State’s GOP primary.

The president, Smith said, “was flexing on purpose to put [Republicans] in check, to let them know there’s a price that would pay if you didn’t show the substantial level of loyalty that he deemed acceptable. And as a result, we’ve seen them operating, as far as I’m concerned, a bit too soft, not showing enough of a spine. And that’s problematic.”

Failing to prioritize the economy, affordability and “what’s going on here in the United States” could also impact Republicans, according to Smith.

“I think that’s the kind of stuff that’s going to come back to haunt them in the midterms.”

“I think that the Democrats are going to regain, at the very least, the House, possibly not the Senate, but it’s a chance that they will. I think that it’s because people in America are being reminded they want checks and balances,” Smith said.

Smith also took aim at Trump’s actions in Iran: “You bombed them last June, you swore they were obliterated, and then you come back and you bomb them again. And then you say it wasn’t a war, but then we find out it was a war, and all of this other stuff. No, you can’t have that.”

“That’s not what America is not about. This is not a dictatorship. This is not an authoritarian rule,” Smith exclaimed.

“We’re a democracy, and when you veer away from that, I think the American people are smart enough to make you pay a price for that. And that’s exactly what I think is going to happen.”