FBI Director Kash Patel lashed out at Stephen A. Smith after the ESPN pundit suggested Donald Trump had extended his retribution campaign into the sports world.
The FBI arrested Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on separate gambling-related charges Thursday, just hours after the second day of the NBA season.
On ESPN’s First Take later that day, Smith argued this was evidence of the president using political retribution in the world of sports. “He’s coming,” warned the veteran broadcaster, who has himself teased a long-shot 2028 presidential run.
But Patel, speaking on Thursday’s Ingraham Angle on Fox News, dismissed Smith’s theory as “dumb.”
Ingraham brought up Smith’s comments, in which the broadcaster warned that Trump would also set his sights on the WNBA. “By the way, this was so wild—Stephen A. Smith, the sports commentator, suggested that this was revenge from the president for all the left-wing activism of the NBA,” she noted. “Your response to that?”
“I’m the FBI director,” Patel responded. “I decide which arrests to conduct and which not to conduct. That may be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard out of anyone in modern history, and I live most of my time in Washington, D.C. It’s right up there with Adam Schiff—we arrest people for crimes.”
It comes after Smith said the arrests represent a “nugget of evidence” showing the president’s desire to punish sports leagues that defy him. He warned that the WNBA could be on the president’s hit list.
“Don’t be surprised if the WNBA is next on his list,” he warned. “Because when you have all of these protests that have been going on out there, and people have been protesting against him… this man is coming.”
The WNBA has been one of the most openly anti-Trump professional leagues, with players frequently taking part in Black Lives Matter demonstrations and publicly endorsing Democratic candidates.
Smith also brought up the Trump administration threatening ICE raids at the Super Bowl because pop star and noted ICE critic Bad Bunny was selected to headline the halftime show.
Trump has used his Truth Social account to fire off about NFL kicking rules and MLB. He called the new rules evidence that the game is becoming “sissy football.” Earlier this year, the MLB ended its permanent ban on the late Pete Rose—which had been one of Trump’s favorite sporting gripes—allowing Rose to be posthumously considered for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
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