Stephen A. Smith is bombastic. Colorful. Grandiose.
But he showed another side of himself on the topic of Anthony Fauci: humbled.
The ESPN commentator revealed that he got into the fight of his life during the COVID pandemic, despite following the advice of the "experts."
Stephen A. Smith looks visibly betrayed as he reveals he took 3 COVID shots and wore a mask just like Fauci told him, and he STILL got COVID, and it almost killed him.
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) August 6, 2026
SMITH: “We were told, ‘Hey, you ain’t gonna get Covid if you do that.’ And I GOT COVID!”
“And damn it, it… pic.twitter.com/grkrKKk9ou
“We were told, ‘Hey, you ain’t gonna get Covid if you do that.’ And I GOT COVID!” he exclaimed.
“And damn it, it almost killed me!" he continued. "Going into 2022, I’m in the hospital 90 minutes before the ball is about to drop, and the doctor says, ‘We’ve been at this for three plus weeks. You got double pneumonia. You look really bad. If this antibiotic and this steroid do not work, Mr. Smith, I’m sorry, we’re gonna have to call your family. Looks that bad...’”
“And through the grace of God, three hours later, I felt better after they gave me that steroid and that antibiotic," he added. "But those were the longest three hours of my life because I thought it was over.”
“And I remember I had done exactly what Dr. Anthony Fauci was imploring us all to do.”
READ MORE: Bill Maher Demolishes Fauci With Just How 'Embarrassing' the Release of His Diary Is
Stephen A. also excoriated Fauci over the "advice" he gave Americans during the pandemic. Here is more from his amazing rant.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as I said, the man pleaded the Fifth 111 times, but they got a hold of his diary. And when you talk about self-aggrandizement being taken to a new level, definitely he was guilty of at least that.
"We learned that mask [mandates], six feet distancing… These were not scientific decisions being made. This was made by a man whose ego was just larger than life — talking about people calling him the sexiest man alive, fawning over celebrities and them fawning over him, caught up in the celebration and everything else in between. It was embarrassing.
"And it was embarrassing not only to him, but it was embarrassing to us who took his word as gospel and ignored all the cynicism and the criticism that was coming his way. We sat back and we bought his stuff, hook, line, and sinker. He was the face of science.
"I cover sports for a living. And over the national airwaves, I had to go on the air. I felt compelled to go on the airwaves and apologize to the likes of NBA star Kyrie Irving or an NFL star like Aaron Rodgers because of the scrutiny they received, the assist that I provided in aiming that scrutiny or assisting in that scrutiny coming in their direction — because the face of science was telling us this is not wise, this is not what’s supposed to be happening.
"And the level of dominion and control that he was having over the lives of American citizens… I’m just going to say it over the airwaves of SiriusXM: It was almost like it gave him a damn hard-on. That’s right. I said it. That’s how bad it was.
"When you read his diaries or what the Senate revealed, led by Senator Rand Paul, who was on the air with me just a few days ago explaining in detail some of those things that transpired — this is shameful. It’s shameful.
"And if you think people are going to forget that Dr. Anthony Fauci did what he did on Capitol Hill last week during the hearing… particularly when tomorrow that same committee is expected to announce they are indicting Anthony Fauci for essentially misleading the public because they got a lot of questions about some of the decisions he’s made…
"I’m not saying you need to go that far. I’m not saying they’re completely right about that. I don’t believe this man at 85 years of age who’s done tremendous work spanning decades should be thrown in jail. But do I think that he should be embarrassed for the self-aggrandizement that he engaged in? You damn right I do.
"Because some of the things that he was telling us to do was inconsistent with science. But he was telling us it was science that led to him making the decisions that he made.
"Masking. Six feet distancing. The closing of businesses. Forcing businesses to push those mandates upon people like me and others."
Stephen A. Smith may have lost many Americans with his denial that Dr. Fauci should necessarily go to jail, but obviously, the doctor should get due process in a court of law.
As Teri Christoph reported, Rand Paul announced that he was taking steps to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. Fauci pleaded the Fifth over 100 times, despite giving an accusatory opening statement, and having been granted a sweeping "pre-emptive pardon" for possible crimes he may have committed.
"During the hearing," Paul said, "I ruled that the Fifth Amendment did not apply because of the pardon, and that Fauci had waived any remaining privilege by giving opening testimony. I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused. That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly.”
That Fauci contempt vote took place Thursday morning, and, as expected, followed party lines. As Christoph noted in a follow-up piece, now they've got his phone.
This is going to prove very interesting for the one-time top COVID doc, whose braggadocious touting of the jabs provided a purported justification for the mandates.
It's fascinating that in the FDA's original emergency use authorization notice, it explicitly states that, "At this time, data are not available to make a determination about how long the vaccine will provide protection, nor is there evidence that the vaccine prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person."
Yet, it appears that Fauci grossly oversold the efficacy of the shots at stopping transmission:
“When you get vaccinated you not only protect your own health and that of the family, but also you contribute to the community health by preventing the spread of the virus throughout the community. In other words, you become a dead end to the virus. And when there are a lot of dead ends around, the virus is not going to go anywhere.”
And Fauci also pledged that people would only rarely get sick or transmit the virus if they got the shot:
“The risk is extremely low of getting infected, of getting sick, or of transmitting it to anybody else. Full stop.”
As Stephen A. Smith alluded to in his rant, Fauci's promises did not hold up to scientific scrutiny, nor did they comport with many people's experience.
The contempt vote comes as more states launch criminal probes into Dr. Anthony Fauci's actions during the COVID pandemic response.
At least four Republican-led states have opened or announced investigations into Fauci, seeking possible violations of state law that would not be covered by former President Joe Biden’s sweeping federal pardon. Those states are West Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Wednesday that investigators are examining possible “deceptive trade, fraud” and “public nuisance” violations.
“Nothing is off the table,” Uthmeier said. “Where you have lies and dishonesty that result in people getting hurt—and a lot of people got hurt—and this is one of the largest evidences of harm in human history.”
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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