Caitlin Clark and Donald Trump (Photos via USA Today)
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith thinks Donald Trump is going to insert himself over the treatment of Caitlin Clark.

Just days after the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece about Caitlin Clark and her civil rights, Smith decided to distance himself from the discourse.

Smith was wrapped up in a similar headline suggesting the WNBA should be investigated for its treatment of Clark.

During Thursday’s edition of “First Take,” he noted that he believed it’s not out of the realm of possibility such an investigation takes place, perhaps even at the behest of the president.

“Well, listen, here’s the deal. You have a lot of people in America out there, because when I saw that article I commented on my show, the Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube, talking about Caitlin Clark and how a case can be made on her behalf if folks were to get involved by the level of physicality that she’s been exposed to and how people are portraying her as being victimized,” Smith said.

“An argument could be made about that.

“Well Sports Illustrated, to a higher degree FOX News came out and put that caption up that FOX News posted: ‘Stephen A. Smith suggests support for federal investigation into WNBA for treatment of Caitlin Clark.’ No, I’m not advocating for it. I’m not supporting it. That is inaccurate. That’s not what I’m saying.”

Smith previously went as far as to call for a federal probe into “potential civil rights violations.”

On his podcast, Smith seemingly supported the idea of an investigation, claiming the government would have a case for it.

Caitlin Clark’s second year has been marred by multiple controversies, which are no fault of her own.

The latest has to do with her missing so many games. Because she gets so much attention, she is a target of much harder physical play by their players.

“What I’m saying is the present administration in the White House, with some of the things that they’ve been willing to do in the past in terms of going at the institutions, in terms of highlighting stuff like Trump did in the past with Colin Kaepernick in the NFL, this is not something that’s beyond reproach,” Smith said. “This is not something that he is unlikely to speak about.”

“If he gets involved and that base gets involved, because somehow, some way they embrace victimhood on the part of Caitlin Clark, it could be a problem,” Smith said.

When Will Caitlin Clark Return to Action?

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
A string of injuries has kept Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark sidelined for over half of the Fever games this season.

Clark was ruled out of the Fever’s road matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, marking the eighth consecutive game she has missed due to a right groin injury suffered in the Fever’s 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun on July 15.

Fever head coach Stephanie White said Clark’s recovery is “going well,” but admitted that she doesn’t “know how far we are” from Clark’s return.