“Stephen A. Smith questioned President Donald Trump on a televised town hall about the defunding of Harvard” is one of those headlines that would have sounded almost alien to someone hearing it four or five years ago.
But that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night, when the cable network NewsNation held a town hall on Trump’s first 100 days, hosted by actor Chris Cuomo, with such guests as former Fox News stalwart Bill O’Reilly and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, who has himself been mentioned as a possible future political candidate. Trump did not appear in person at the town hall, although he did call in.
This led to a memorable moment, in which Smith asked Trump about his attempted shakedown of Harvard University, which the venerable Ivy League school has resisted. Trump, for some reason, gave an answer about Harlem rather than Harvard.
“We had riots in Harlem, in Harlem, and frankly, if you look at what’s gone on, and people from Harlem went up and they protested, Stephen,” Trump said in response to Smith’s question about Harvard and academic freedom. “And they protested very strongly against Harvard. They happened to be on my side. You know, I got a very high Black vote. You know that. Very, very high Black vote. It was a very great compliment.”
asked by Stephen A. Smith about his Harvard shakedown, Trump starts ranting about Harlem and says “I got a very high Black vote” pic.twitter.com/ZoKFaAx7xs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 1, 2025
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It’s possible that Trump had been thinking about Columbia University, another Ivy League school with which he has clashed, located near the Harlem neighborhood in his hometown of New York City. He did go on to say that Black people “agree with what I’m doing with respect to Harvard.”
The Harvard/Harlem answer drew some pretty shocked reactions on social media. Including one who posted maps of how Trump did in the actual Harlem neighborhood:
If you’ve ever wondered what a bumbling fool looks like… I’m a third generation elected Wright in Harlem. Your results in the 70th AD are akin to your results across Black America: dismal. ~ 10%. Numbers are really hard for this gross bigoted baby. https://t.co/KLwb6IJgqG pic.twitter.com/MsRpvC78sa
— Jordan Wright (@jordanjgwright) May 1, 2025
Hey @AlexThomp what did you say about wishing you could have reported on a president’s cognitive decline? https://t.co/CmqmuC5lCW
— Jesse (@jessetow) May 1, 2025
This man’s brain is cooked https://t.co/IWVUsUetz4
— Elika Sadeghi (@elikasadeghi) May 1, 2025
Photo courtesy of X screenshot.
