The President demands 'apologize for untruth' after the 'SportsCenter' anchor called him 'an unfit, bigoted, incompetent moron.'
- Sep 16, 2017
AceShowbiz - Donald Trump reacted to ESPN anchor Jemele Hill calling him white supremacist. "ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers," the President tweeted on Friday, September 15. "Apologize for untruth!"
ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
The 41-year-old black anchor who co-hosted "SportsCenter" made scathing remarks on the commander-in-chief on her Twitter. "Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists," she wrote early this week.
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," she added in her angry rant. "His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period. 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."
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
She also called the President a bigot. "Donald Trump is a bigot. Glad you could live with voting for him. I couldn’t, because I cared about more than just myself," she tweeted. "I hate a lot of things but not enough to jeopardize my fellow citizens with an unfit, bigoted, incompetent moron. But hey, that's just me."
Before going after Trump, Hill criticized Kid Rock who planned to run for senate and loved to display Confederate flag. In response to an article that defended the musician and claimed he loved black people, Hill wrote, "He loves black people so much that he pandered to racists by using a flag that unquestionably stands for dehumanizing black people."
He loves black people so much that he pandered to racists by using a flag that unquestionably stands for dehumanizing black people. https://t.co/ukbl3RodoP
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017
"The height of white privilege is being able to ignore his white supremacy, because it's of no threat to you. Well, it's a threat to me," Hill explained.
On Wednesday, September 13 during a media briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Hill's comments "inappropriate." She said, "That's one of the more outrageous comments that anyone can make and certainly that’s a fireable offense by ESPN."
In the President's defense, Sanders said he had met "highly respected leaders in the African-American community" to end the racial divide. "I think that's where we want to be focused and not on outrageous statements like that one," she added.
As the uproar continued on social media, ESPN issued a statement to denounce Hill's remarks, "The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the President do not represent the position of ESPN. We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate."
The anchor then returned to Twitter to "address the elephant in the room." She wrote, "My comments on Twitter expressed my personal beliefs. My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light. My respect for the company and my colleagues remains unconditional."
So, to address the elephant in the room ... #Facts pic.twitter.com/RTrIDD87ut
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 14, 2017
There were pros and cons of Hill's statement. Many of the unhappy ones urged ESPN to fire the female anchor. However, the network decided to keep her, "Jemele has a right to her personal opinions, but not to publicly share them on a platform that implies that she was in any way speaking on behalf of ESPN. She has acknowledged that her tweets crossed that line and has apologized for doing so. We accept her apology."
This prompted the network to get called out for double standard. "ESPN, Curt Schilling is fired 4 questioning Transgender Bathrooms but nothing happens 2 Jemele Hill when she calls Trump a WhiteSupremacist?" an angry Twitter user lamented. Another wrote, "Complete BS, You fired Curt Schilling for political opinions." A different person tweeted, "It's a f**king disgrace that jemele hill is still employed by espn, while curt schilling lost his job."
Curt Schilling was fired by ESPN after making insensitive comments on North Carolina transgender bathroom law back in April. "LET HIM IN! to the restroom with your daughter or else you're a narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving racist bigot who needs to die," he wrote in a Facebook post with an image of an overweight man dressing in a drag.
"A man is a man no matter what they call themselves," the former athlete-turned-baseball analyst argued. "I don't care what they are, who they sleep with, men's room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic."
In response, the network stated, "ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated."
