The radical Left “the View” panelist Joy Behar was skewered by sports journalist Stephen A. Smith after downplaying Trump’s victory and questioning his mandate to govern the country.
“But he won the popular vote by 1.5 percent, one of the smallest ever, he won the general election by less than fifty percent. So what kind of mandate is this really?” Behar asked.
Smith, who confessed to hating Trump, said he could not allow his disdain for the president to overshadow the fact that most Americans gave him the mandate to lead the country.
“It is a mandate, and I’m going to explain why,” he started.
“The man won every swing state. He increased in terms of his vote, his voter turnout, in his favor, from the standpoint of blacks, Latinos and young voters. He increased his numbers in that regard from 2020. 89 percent of the counties shifted to the right. That’s a mandate.”
Smith added that Democrats can continue to live in denial by constantly reminding themselves that Trump did not win the popular vote or electoral college in 2020. However, Trump rewrote a 20-year history in 2024 by winning the popular vote, the electoral college, and every swing state as a Republican.
“As a matter of fact, the Republicans have won the popular vote, if I remember correctly, since 2004. But they did this year. So 20 years after they last won a popular vote, they won the popular vote. They won the Electoral College vote. The man won every swing state. And on top of it all, 89 percent of the counties shifted.”
“I don’t understand how people can look at that and say “There’s no mandate.” There’s a mandate.”
Behar also tried to redefine the meaning of “a mandate,” but the sports newscaster would have none of it. He also reminded Behar to focus on their party’s losses and develop a new strategy instead of giving excuses.
“The problem is, if you’re the Democratic Party, and you lost 49.8 percent to 48.3 percent, if you’re looking at that 1.5 percent, that’s an excuse for you to say “What we did really wasn’t that bad. We should continue to do that.”
“No. Don’t continue to do that. Find a new strategy.”
What Smith also failed to mention is that Trump’s approval ratings are through the roof and most voters are satisfied with his performance.
In 2020, the same Liberals demonized Trump for questioning the integrity of the presidential election, of which Biden was declared the winner despite losing three Swing states and winning only one bellwether county.
In contrast, Trump won all the Swing states, all but two Bellwether counties, and shifted 89% of counties right in 2024. Yet the Left refuses to acknowledge the overwhelming mandate that the American voters gave him.
Nonetheless, it was refreshing to hear someone speak sense for once on the far-left liberal show, whose sole purpose of existence is to remind us that liberals operate outside the bounds of common reasoning.
In February 2025, Democratic political strategist James Carville said he was stunned at the amount of “jacka**, stupid things” that his party still embraced, allowing Trump to overwhelm them.
“And it’s like, there’s a, a plant somewhere in quote, progressive, unquote America, that just to seize how many jacka**, stupid things that they can embrace, it’s stunningly stupid. Both of them,” Carville said.
Denying Trump’s victory and questioning his mandate is among the “stunningly stupid” things of which the Left refuses to let go. Others include fighting Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for trying to end government waste and corruption, opposing the deportation of illegal immigrants, including those with a criminal record, and supporting biological men’s participation in women’s sports, of which most Americans disapprove.
