White House press secretary Sarah Sanders accused ESPN of being “hypocritical” for not punishing anchor Jemele Hill after she called President Trump a white supremacist and “unfit” for the presidency.
“The point is that ESPN has been hypocritical. They should hold anchors to a fair and consistent standard,” Sanders told reporters during Friday’s White House press briefing. “ESPN suspended a longtime anchor Linda Cohn not too long ago for expressing a political viewpoint. The network’s public editor has said there is a perception that ESPN has become political and that has harmed the network.
“This is clearly a political statement. They should be consistent in whatever guidelines that they have set themselves in that front.”
ESPN punished Cohn, a longtime “SportsCenter” anchor, after she signaled in April the network’s ratings decline was, in part, because its “core group” of viewers disliked ESPN’s jump into politics. There are conflicting reports as to whether Cohn was suspended or told to take a day off.
Hill, meanwhile, criticized Trump on her Twitter account Monday and said he is “unqualified” and “unfit” to be president.
“Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists,” Hill tweeted. “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 fired back on Twitter Friday morning, calling on the network to apologize.
“ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. 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
ESPN declined to punish Hill, but issued a statement saying network officials spoke to her about her tweets.
“The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the president do not represent the position of ESPN,” the network said in a statement. “We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.”
When asked about Hill’s comments during Wednesday’s press briefing, Sanders said she considered the ESPN anchor’s tweets to be a “fireable offense.”
Sanders said she stood by her remarks about Hill and ESPN when asked about the anchor on Friday.
“I think it is a fireable offense based on the standard that ESPN has set themselves by saying that people that go too far and make political comments have been suspended from their own network,” she said. “I think that is a consistency they should possibly focus on.”
