Sports media personality Stephen A. Smith said former President Obama’s chat with President-elect Trump at funeral services for former President Carter was not “a good look.”
“It wasn’t a good look, but it wasn’t a good look because of Trump,” Smith said on a Monday episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“It wasn’t a good look because of all the things that were said about Trump during the campaign, while you were trying to convince tens of millions of people to vote for Kamala Harris.”
“Fascist, threat to democracy,” he added. “You know, people bringing up Nazis and all of this stuff when they talked about Trump.”
At funeral services for Carter last week, Trump and Obama were captured on camera exchanging pleasantries. Obama laughed at something the president-elect was saying and their conversation continued on-and-off for a few minutes.
The exchange was notable due to a history of strife between the presidents.
The president-elect had for years falsely claimed that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. and wasn’t eligible for the presidency, and also accused Obama on multiple occasions of spying on his 2016 campaign. Obama campaigned intensely against Trump in the last three presidential elections, painting him as a bully and threat to democracy.
In the end, Smith said he didn’t think the Obama-Trump interaction was “that big of a deal.”
“I think class and decorum is the order of the day, especially at a funeral, let alone a funeral with — of one of the former presidents of the United States. I don’t think that that’s the time for vitriol, I don’t think that’s the time for insults,” he said.
Unlike his wife, Michelle Obama, the former president intends to attend Trump’s inauguration next week. The former lady announced this week she would not attend, followed by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif), who confirmed her planned absence on Thursday.
Neither publicly shared their reason for skipping the event.
The Hill has reached out to both Obamas for comment.
