Stephen A. Smith stunned Bill Maher’s audience into silence on Friday night with his frank assessment of why Donald Trump secured his return to the White House.

ESPN star Smith, who made his name in sports media, has recently become more vocal on political topics since Trump won the election in November.

Smith voted Democrat at the time but was quick to admit he regretted the choice he made.

In recent weeks he’s been critical of the party and even recently predicted that they will struggle to beat J.D. Vance in the next presidential election in 2028.

Smith was asked for his views by Maher on the late-night chat show as he sat alongside Democratic congressman Ro Khanna.

And his response stunned the Maher crowd into silence as Smith delivered an honest takedown of the Democrats.

He said: ‘The man was impeached twice, he was convicted on 34 felony counts and the American people still said “he’s closer to normal than what we see on the left”.

‘Why? Because when you talk about the transgender community, for example, and you’re talking about issues that pertain to less than one per cent of the population, the Democratic party came across as if that was more of a priority than other issues.

‘So when he shows up on week one on Capitol Hill, he says “this is what we’re going to do through an executive order” even though it’s going to be shot down through the courts.

‘But he’s saying “I kept my promise”. Then you turn around and look at the left and you say “What promises did you keep?”

‘What voter out there can look at the Democratic party and say “There’s a voice for us, somebody who speaks for us, that goes up on Capitol Hill and fights the fights that we want them fighting on our behalf”.

‘They didn’t do that and that’s why their behinds are home, and that man is back in the White House. He’s doing what he said he was going to do. He promised you he was going to do these things and he walked into office and that’s exactly what he’s doing.’

Smith admitted earlier this week that Trump put himself above the law by pardoning two notorious former far-right leaders involved in the storming of the Capitol.

Just hours into his second term as president, Trump sparked major controversy by releasing Stewart Rhodes, founder of anti-government ‘militia’ the Oath Keepers, and Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio, who previously headed up the Proud Boys extremist group, from prison on Tuesday.

Rhodes was serving an 18-year sentence for his role in the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, while Tarrio had been jailed for 22 years.

Despite both men being convicted of seditious conspiracy, one of Trump’s first acts as president was to release them from prison after signing the clemency order.

And while his blanket pardon released at least 1,500 people charged over the riots, which took place after his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, Smith believes Rhodes and Tarrio in particular should not have been allowed to walk free.

‘In terms of pardoning folks from the riots in the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, I do not agree with that decision by the president of the United States,’ the ESPN First Take host said on his YouTube show.

‘I do believe that a lot of folks should have been pardoned. But when you bring the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers [leaders out of prison], and considering the charges that were leveled against them… anybody that engaged in violence, to me that should have been different.

‘If you’re the commander in chief of the United States of America, if you preach about the importance of law and order, and someone has flagrantly engaged in lawlessness, but you give them a pass just because they supported you… you’re not supporting the law, you’re supporting you.’

[H/T Daily Mail]