NYC mayor Eric Adams defends $53 million credit card program to Stephen A. Smith: "Feed every migrant and asylum seeker"

NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith was a staunch critic of the $53 million prepaid credit card program that fed illegal immigrants housed in New York City. However, since his numerous tirades last year lambasting the program, Smith invited New York City Mayor Eric Adams to his ESPN program "The Stephen A. Smith Show" on Wednesday, where the two discussed the controversial program.

The host acknowledged that he scrutinized the mayor’s million-dollar program before, but allowed the mayor to air his side about the rationale of the program in his show.

“I think I was the loudest critic of the $53 million prepair credit card," Smith said. "I was losing my mind. I’m like, ‘wait a minute, I’ve been black all my life, I’m in the New York City for the better part of my life. I’ll be damned if ever saw some damn prepaid credit cards in the black community, and I was born here.”

The mayor then replied about the reason behind why they approved the program.

“We were required by law to feed every migrant and asylum seeker that was in our care. Food was being delivered that people were not eating. A lot of it was being thrown out. We were wasting money,” Adams said.

“We give people food cards, with around $11 a day and they are going to go to the local bodegas, shops, and restaurants within the area so we are going to recycle the money back to the community instead of a large conglomerate. It saved us money and we were able to put money back into the local communities,” he added.

Stephen A. Smith predicted Donald Trump’s election win in 2024

Stephen A. Smith declared that Donald Trump would get back to the presidency in 2025, which ultimately came true, in his podcast.

Smith was also vocal about former president Joe Biden’s physical and mental decline, which for him, affected how America was run in the past two years.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Trump’s gonna get re-elected. Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States if this kind of stuff that I’m reading continues to happen in American cities, Donald Trump is a shoo-in for re-election, even if he’s a convicted felon," Smith said in Feb. 2024.

In November, Trump won the presidency again, beating Kamala Harris to become the 47th president of the United States. Trump lost in 2021 against Joe Biden in the election after serving the country from 2016 to 2020.