Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith pushed back forcefully against Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., during a heated exchange on Smith’s “Straight Shooter” podcast, arguing that former Vice President Kamala Harris did not lose the presidential election to President Donald Trump because of her gender, as reported by Fox News.

The exchange aired on Thursday and centered on post-election analysis of Harris’ loss to Trump. During the discussion, Clyburn criticized Trump and suggested bias played a role in the election outcome, particularly toward Black women.

Clyburn described Trump as someone who “looks for opportunities to insult Black women” on a daily basis. Smith immediately challenged that framing.

Trump's Sovereign Wealth Fund: What Could It Mean For Your Money?

“That’s one of the categories,” Smith replied. “Because, to me, he insults everybody.”

Clyburn responded that such behavior should disqualify Trump in the eyes of voters. “Well, nobody should be voting for him,” he said.

Smith countered by pointing out that millions of Americans nonetheless supported Trump at the ballot box. Clyburn argued that voters were confusing aggressive behavior with leadership.

Smith rejected that explanation and offered an alternative view of why Harris failed to secure enough support.

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

“Is it possible that that’s not what they did?” Smith asked.

“That instead, what they did was look at the Democratic side, and say they didn’t like what they were getting, because the Democratic side didn’t represent what James Clyburn stands for. It didn’t represent what others have stood for that are traditional members of the Democratic Party. They saw a change shifting within the Democratic Party that leaned a bit further left that were deemed to be just as unreasonable as folks on the far right, and as a result, they chose what they deem to be the best of two evils, per se.”

Clyburn suggested that voters may not have been able to look past Harris’ identity. “Well, the question is why they didn’t see it,” he said.

“Maybe they couldn’t get beyond gender, and our nominee happened to have been a Black or an African American, Asian American woman.”

That assertion prompted Smith to directly confront the congressman.

“Well, let me say this, because I’m not going to say this behind your back and not say it to your face,” Smith said.

“I’m sitting right here in front of you,” he continued.

“I emphatically disagree with what you just alluded to in terms of ‘it might be gender-driven.’ I think about Hillary Rodham Clinton getting 2.9 million votes more than Trump in 2016. I think about Kamala Harris getting nearly 75 million votes… I think about governors in New York, governors-elects in Jersey and recently Virginia. I think about former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who was considered one of the most influential figures in our nation’s history.”

Smith argued that the electoral record undermines claims that Americans are unwilling to support female leaders at the highest levels.

He also pointed to the compressed timeline of Harris’ campaign after she was elevated as the Democratic nominee.

He added that if bias against female leadership were as entrenched as claimed, Harris would not have been selected as President Joe Biden’s successor with only 107 days remaining in the campaign.

“That’s my opinion,” Smith said.

“And I certainly disagree with Michelle Obama when she said she doesn’t think we’re ready. I think we’re very ready as a country to elect a woman, because I think women by and large are smarter, more composed, more disciplined than the men have proven to be.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response.