White House Press Secretary Calls for ESPN Anchor to be Fired For Exercising Free Speech
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty
ESPN SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill expressed some opinions about Donald Trump in Twitter on Monday in the middle of a heated and very political exchange. They weren’t outrageous statements, by any means, but coming from an ESPN employee, they were surprising. Here are the most noteworthy:
Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017
Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017
No the media doesn’t make it a threat. It IS a threat. He has empowered white supremacists (see: Charlottesville).
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017
He is unqualified and unfit to be president. He is not a leader. And if he were not white, he never would have been elected
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017
Donald Trump is a bigot. Glad you could live with voting for him. I couldn’t, because I cared about more than just myself
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017
And it’s funny how you cling to Benghazi but I bet you didn’t give one thought to what Trump said about the Central Park 5
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017
In a move that Deadspin called “craven,” ESPN released a statement saying that Hill’s tweets were “inappropriate,” and that they had addressed the issue with her.
ESPN Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/3kfexjx9zQ
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 12, 2017
There was no mention of suspension, much less firing, and it seemed as though the story was over.
Then White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took the podium today, and this happened:
????The White House press secretary, from the podium, calls for a media company to fire a commentator over her criticism of the president. ???? pic.twitter.com/CEJggX8WNn
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 13, 2017
Here’s that quote for those without video:
“That is one of the more outrageous comments that anybody could make and certainly is something that is a fireable offense by ESPN.”
That’s right—a White House employee is calling for a private employee to be fired because she said—I repeat, said—something unkind about the president.
As far as we can tell, this is unprecedented, and political Twitter—from left to right—is reacting with shock:
Anathema to any conservative to call for the career of someone who offended with speech. Grotesquely irresponsible from the White House. https://t.co/x285wuYEXP
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) September 13, 2017
Fact point:
Not aware of any previous WH spokesman, from WH podium, calling for someone to be fired for anti-Prez comments. https://t.co/l69wMHS7rq
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) September 13, 2017
Can anyone remember such a thing? A WH spox calling for employee of private company to be fired for anti-POTUS comments? https://t.co/Ieh5jnWfoz
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 13, 2017
As Parker Molloy noted, it will be interesting to see whether the free speech advocates who are so vocal about violations on college campuses are equally up in arms about this.