On Monday, ESPN journalist Jemele Hill made a series of factual statements on Twitter. Jemele Hill is an African-American woman, an award-winning sports/culture journalist and commentator, and the current co-host of ESPN’s SportsCenter. Jemele went off, in a series of late-evening tweets, about Donald Trump’s white supremacy. This is just a partial excerpt: “Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period. He has surrounded himself with white supremacists.” No lies detected. For these factual statements, ESPN wussed out and condemned Hill’s tweets and said “she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.” IN WHAT WORLD? In what world is it inappropriate to properly identify white supremacy when you’re staring at its neo-Nazi face?
It was bad enough that ESPN did not have Jemele Hill’s back, and it was bad enough that all of the triggered Deplorable snowflakes were waging some stupid campaign to get her fired. But then at yesterday’s White House briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders unloaded:
When asked whether she had a reaction to Hill’s tweets, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they were “one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make, and certainly something that I think is a fireable offense by ESPN.”
She added that President Trump had recently met with Senator Tim Scott and other “highly respected leaders in the African-American community,” and that he’s “committed to working with them to bring the country together.” “I think that’s where we need to be focused, not on outrageous statements like that one,” she added.
When reporters pointed out that Trump’s failure to condemn white-nationalist groups directly after a violent demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, might have had something to do with Hill’s views, Sanders objected. The president, she said, “was clear in his initial statement” and condemned “hatred, bigotry, racism of all forms” — he has “been very consistent in that fact,” she concluded.
IN WHAT WORLD? In what world is it a “fireable offense” to say that a white supremacist is a white supremacist? You know what world this is? This is the world where neo-Nazis, racists and white supremacists are so butthurt that someone might CALL THEM RACIST that they actually equate that to being racist. It’s one of the worst false equivalencies out there, that it’s just as bad to call someone a racist as it is to BE racist. The good news here is that if ESPN does end up firing Jemele Hill, she’s got a really good lawsuit against them.
Sarah Sanders called ESPN host Jemele Hill's anti-Trump tweets a "fireable offense" https://t.co/GkhoiyuU3C https://t.co/BIXib0cjto
— CNN (@CNN) September 13, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Of course the White House thinks that, they’re a little over emotional aren’t they?
Trump committed a fireable offense when he campaigned against Clair McCaskill at an official event, when he hired his daughter and son and law, and he continues to commit fireable offenses by trading access for bookings at his hotel.
All Jemele did was send a few tweets. Trump has actually broken the law.
Ha!
Also, it’s none of the WH’s business if it is a fireable offence or not. Busybodies. Must have time on their hands.
+1 hmmm!
F-ck the White House. All the dudes in that revolving door White House are a crime wave in themselves.
+ 1
Perfectly stated!
Exactly!
Good thing this new rule about television hosts being unable to criticize the President didn’t exist when Barack Obama was in office … And Donald J Trump, the Birther in Chief, was hosting cheesy game show, The Apprentice.
A world where a leader can demand a private citizen be fired for criticizing them is literally what the first amendment of the Constitution was drafted to prevent.
All the YES’s to @S! Well said and I couldn’t agree more.
“A world where a leader can demand a private citizen be fired for criticizing them is literally what the first amendment of the Constitution was drafted to prevent.”
The most important thing anyone reading the sentence above will read today. Spot-on.
Exactly. All those first amendment idiots don’t realize this is what the constitution was meant to protect.
+ a million times Cannibell!
@S — you took the words right out of my mouth!!!
…and then they came for the press. Frightening how so many have learned nothing from history.
Exactly. And for SHS or anyone in the White House to condemn anything as a fireable offense is laughable and pathetic considering how little regard Trump alone seems to have for the rule of law.
@s
Absolutely agree with you!!! And of course she said it about Jemele but said nothing about Miss Texas and her statement. Whatever could be the difference?🙄
It’s also called Turkey. And Russia. And China. And Saudi Arabia. And Iran. I could go on. You could argue that it’s worse in those countries (much worse) but hey, they started somewhere too. This woman should be ashamed of herself.
HELL YES.
The White House/government has NO place telling a private company who they should fire, and certainly not when it comes to criticism of POTUS. That is a really dangerous precedent.
S, your comment is spot-on. Absolutely correct.
If ESPN fires her for this I suggest complaining about it to ESPN’s advertisers…
i totally agree. Things unfortunately only happen when the bottom line is threatened.
And Disney! Go to the parent company- that really gives them pause. And I hate to say it, but in this case especially it’ll probably be twice as effective as calling ESPN- demographically, women aren’t that important to them, but we are often the ones who plan the family trips to Disneyland, schedule family movie nights, make purchases for the children, etc. Call Disney if ESPN takes further action. 😀
Why does Sarah keep saying incorrect things?
Nothing Jemele said was a fireable offense. There is a process that has to be followed before a company can fire someone for anything. If they don’t they open themselves up for a huge lawsuit. They allowed Curt Sh-tking to stay on their network longer than he should have for repeatedly tweeting out Islamophobic comments, attacking Hillary Clinton, and just being a jerk.
Jemele also said nothing wrong. This goes back to what I posted a while ago on this site. Some white people only have a problem with being called a racist but have no problem acting like one. There is a disconnect between actions and their own words and thoughts that needs to be bridged.
Also, where are all the free speech mouth breathers at? Her freedom of speech is being attacked by a government mouth piece. Where are they to defend her? Where is Bill Maher and Ann Coulter on this?
“Why does Sarah keep saying incorrect things?”
Because she is a congenital liar working for the Liar-in-Chief. Because their buttlicking followers lap it up. Because the audience she is speaking to is stupid, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic. Just because ….
“Free speech mouth breathers” – OMG, yes! Apparently it only counts as defensible free speech when one’s own views align with the speaker’s. Argh, the hypocrisy is never-ending!
Has there ever been an administration(🤣🤣🤣)more petty, more small minded, more inept than this one? Don’t bother responding, we all know the answer.
Agreed but I’d also add that I can’t think of one more dangerous, either. On a number of fronts. Their constant demonization of hardworking, decent journalists is beyond the pale, to name just one.
Good point!
I’m pretty sure trump called president Obama racist while he hosted the apprentice. This is probably my biggest problem with republicans, they like to throw dirt all over the place but when it’s returned and actually legitimate they get all bent out of shape. They have treated president Obama and the dem party like horrible racist facist, running a campaign against our morals and ethics every night on fox whilst being the exact same thing they claim we are.
I think the default stance for Rs is rage/outrage. Very reactive, very emotional. It’s like they’re all stuck in puberty.
Because 45 would never call anyone a racist… especially our President. 😒
She should’ve been a rich white dude that gropes women, that’s still kosher and unfireable.
IKR, but these self-righteous pricks refuse to acknowledge their own hypocrisy when they utter dumb shit like this. Sanders works for an amoral miscreant that should never have been elected POTUS, but that doesn’t stop her from condemning someone who speaks out (and speaks the truth) against him.
The truth hurts…especially coming from a woman. Everything Jemele said was true. She only stated her opinion on what’s she’s observed. That is not a “fireable offense.” If ESPN is smart, they’d back away slowly, take no further action and go on with business as usual. I hope Jemele has obtained legal counsel to remind ESPN of her rights.✊🏻
ESPN could technically fire her if they felt it necessary. Free speech doesn’t apply to private enterprise. What is more concerning is the government is actively suggesting retaliation for people speaking against it than anything else.
Am just asking, was this done on her personal account or on an ESPN account?
As much as I agree 100% with Jemele’s assessment, I also agree that the choice is up to ESPN. If they found her comments to be unflattering or damaging to the company, they could let her go. I don’t think it matters if it was her account or the company’s, as an employee she is a public representative of the company. Lots of people have been fired for making personal comments that their employer found unacceptable. I hope ESPN is smart about this though and recognizes that nothing she said was really untrue.
She’s getting dangerously close to trampling over First Amendment territory, there. A government figure suggesting somebody be punished for exercising free speech is serious stuff.
(Funny how we don’t see Constitutionalists crawling out of the woodwork to defend her rights, eh?)
Agreed, this is just further evidence that this whole administration is a toxic mix of stupidity and hubris with aspirations of dictatorship. Re: Constitutionalists, it’s almost as if it was never about defending the Constitution in the first place, how odd… *grumble*
ITA, Veronica. This is fence walking re: violating the 1st Amendment – abridgment of free speech by a WH official. Certainly ESPN’s lawyers are going through their CYA file right now.
The official protest season is starting this weekend in DC. The white supremacists will be gathering at the Washington Monument and the the Juggalos will be gathering at the Lincoln Memorial at the same time on Saturday. Since the Insane Clown Posse sings several songs about murdering racists, I suspect Saturday is going to be very interesting.
While she might be factually correct
It is still the president of her country she calles out.
You guys have a lot of democratic power and that is why she can even say something so strongly and in such a tone towards the president of your country, however right she is.
I cannot believe that people expect that there would not be any repercussions to it.
Offcourse there would be.
You cannot really openly call out the representative of your highest offices like that and not have any consequences or not have any official statements condemning that.
Outrage is fine, but ignoring how exactly the world moves is another thing.
Really? Review all of the nasty things said about President Obama, some said by elected officials, that resulted in no consequences, and then get back to us.
Actually, yes, you CAN say EXACTLY those things “without having any official statements condemning it” from the government … It’s, you know, a Constitutional right. Remember how Donald Trump lost his TV job for all the Birther nonsense, plus the 1,000 other nasty, untrue lies he told about Barack Obama? How Jay Carney, Robert Gibbs and Josh Earnest (Obama’s press secs) called him out for them in official press briefings? Yeah, neither do I, BECAUSE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, and never should.
Many, many people misunderstand the term free speech. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism or public censure. It doesn’t mean you’re free from repercussions when you say stupid, racist or crazy crap. It also does not mean you’re guaranteed a platform, venue or audience to speak in front of. What it is does mean — the ONE, CONSTIUTIONALLY-enshrined thing — is that you are free from GOVERNMENT reprisal and prosecution for lawful criticism of anyone, ESPECIALLY elected officials.
So, if you, @Tan, as a private citizen, want to go on a rant about Jemele Hill’s comments and reach out to ESPN and insist they fire her … That’s your right. Just as it’s Hill’s right to make the comments in the first place.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a paid representative of the executive branch of the government, speaking in her official position, on the other hand, calling for specific reprisals against a private citizen because her boss didn’t like what she said, is not only out of bounds, but almost certainly unconstitutional.
Big difference. Huge.
Well, no. She did not threaten him in any way. Whether her tweet is regarded as a statement of truth or opinion, the bottom line she is being threatened by the government for exercising her constitutional right of free speech. P.S. it turns my stomach that to see so many democrats cozying up to Trump.
http://www.ninaillingworth.com/2017/09/14/an-open-letter-to-espn-about-president-trump-and-jemele-hill/
Should we be grateful that she hasn’t ended up like media critics of Putin: in prison or dead? Another thing Don supports about Vlad no doubt.
You can absolutely make those comments against the government. Those are your protected rights. ESPN can decide whether she violated their employee guidelines, but a government official has no place suggesting retaliation against an individual who speaks out against them. That is in direct violation of the intent of the freedom of speech clause.
The Washington Post did an article about the time Trump tweeted that Obama was a racist in 2012.I wish a reporter would ask Sara should Donald been fired from “The Apprentice” for that offense.
Hypocrites
If espn fires her I hope she hits them with a lawsuit so fast their heads spin
Also Ben Shapiro defended her…which was weird
I can’t believe the WH podium is being used for this. Trump can’t stop being a petty child for five minutes. When is Mueller going to wrap this up once and for all?
The WH non-spokesmodel Sarah Huckster Sanders has absolutely no business telling a private employer what they should fire a person for, and she has even LESS business policing the speech of a citizen of these United States. I am sick of this slow Stalinism boil I see happening with these Trumpkins. It isn’t funny. It’s terribly dangerous to attack free speech and the press and it is 100% against everything we stand for as a country. Calgon, take me away! Would Mueller please get working on the firings that actually need to happen!!
I posted this yesterday but I want to say it again. Her comments were 100% fact HOWEVER ESPN has a very strict policy on social media content for their employees and I feel like people are just ignoring that. It’s a policy all employees agree to adhere to when they go to work for ESPN. That’s what was inappropriate about her actions – that she behaved as if the rules didn’t apply to her and in her most recent statement where she stands by what she said but also apologizes to her coworkers I think she clearly realizes that.
I don’t think the actual words were inappropriate but I do think it’s inappropriate when employees act like guidelines you are aware of, that others follow and/or have been reprimanded for do not apply to you. If you are an employee of a company that has rules and you don’t follow those rules then expect to be reprimanded – even if your cause is just or your statements are factual.
THIS STORY IS ABOUT A GOV’T EMPLOYEE CALLING FOR THE FIRING OF A PRIVATE CITIZEN, BECAUSE THEY SAID SOMETHING THE ADMINISTRATION DIDN’T LIKE.
It is NOT about ESPN’s social media policy. It’s about abuse of power and a blatantly unconstitutional attempt BY THE GOVERNMENT to limit speech they disagree with.
Again, it’s not an HR thing, it’s the CONSTITUTION.
S – I hear you (it’s hard not to with your all caps jeeze!!) IMO the story about the WH thinking they have any say in this is so ridiculous I’m not giving it any of my time.
But what I am seeing is a lot of people questioning in what world were her comments inappropriate. And my comment is in reply to that – in the world of ESPN where you agree to adhere to their social media policy, there’s where. I think it’s an important piece of this situation that’s being ignored.
Yes. There are actually two parts here. First, there is the internal ESPN HR stuff, which frankly is none of our business. Then, and far more importantly, there is, as s correctly points out, the CONSTITUTION. The government is ignoring the Constitution by injecting itself into the relationship between an employee & her employer to demand her termination for exercising her First Amendment rights and LYING about something being an offense that merits termination. That part IS our business and it is horrifying.
There are 2 aspects to this. I think Erica is correct in her assessment of ESPN policy, and S you are correct regarding the Constitution/First Amendment.
Agree w both S and Erica-V. Yes, of course it’s petty, unconstitutional, and perfectly disgusting for our government to be so butt-hurt they are publicly condemning her and recommending that she be fired, AND she also very likely did violate ESPN’s laws/policies regarding social media. Both are true; one fact does not nullify the other. But it is NONE of the WH’s business to try to intervene and get her fired. That’s how grotesquely small minded DT and his hand chosen staff actually are.
If what she said about Trump is considered a fireable offense then Trump should be fired from his current job as POTUS for what he’s said or tweeted about Obama when Obama was POTUS. The only difference is that she was telling the truth.
The current execs in the White House can miss me with their b.s.
Since Suckabee isn’t an atty she should refrain from giving out legal advice. Did they haul her bro to jail for torturing dogs?
Nothing she said was factually untrue. Sometimes the truth hurts. But this is America 2017 where calling someone a racist is somehow more offensive and harmful than actually being a racist. It’s total bullshit.
It is the case over and over again. Sadly this is truer now than over.
Agreed. Many of these people are so far gone in their own racism that they see an attack on white supremacy as an attack on their ‘heritage’. Plus there are a lot of people in this country who just don’t want to see themselves or their relatives/friends be held accountable for what they voted for when they decided to give Trump their support. It’s infuriating- the amount of coddling that’s expected to be done for them.
Holy F. And then ESPN sides with them by reprimanding her, as if she were in the wrong. Disgusting.
I don’t understand why the press reporters continue to attend Sarah’s briefings because every word out of her mouth is a lie. They aren’t learning anything new from these briefings, their time can better be used covering people who are being impacted by the EOs that the King of Lies and Fake News keeps signing. It looks horrible how they sit there and let Sarah and The King of Lies and Fake News trash their peers. They don’t even bother to stand up for each other, they are more concerned about their spot than they are doing the right thing. Sarah is a puppet. She repeats every lie that the King of Lies and Fake News says without any concern for the damage it does.
Here is an example of just how incompetent the press are. Schumer and Pelosi put out a statement about their meeting with The King of Lies and Fake News. They said that there wasn’t a deal on the wall. Sarah Huckabee then put out tweet contradicting what Pelosi and Schumer said. Who did the the 2 guests on Brain W show believe? Sarah. One of the guests even said that both the tweets said the same thing, which it clearly didn’t. Sarah lies every day and some people try to spin a different narrative.
Something weird is going on with the press. Ever since the King of Lies and Fake News and his wife did the 2nd staged photo-op in Texas(with Melanie still wearing a Flotus hat and the King of Lies and Fake News pretending that he was handing out water and food and loved by the hurricane victims), the press have been presenting the King of Lies and Fake News as presidential and trying to coddle him.
In other news. Grassley is still trying to obstruct the Trump Russian investigation. He is refusing to hand over information to Mueller and is drafting the paperwork to subpoena the DOJ and FBI concerning Comey. I wish Mueller would send a strong statement to those GOP senators who keep standing in his way and trying to obstruct a message. He needs to start prosecuting Grassely, Devin Nunes, Graham, Gowdy, and Sarah(she stated lies about Comey and said that he should be prosecuted).
The King of Lies and Fake News and his wife went to Florida and as usual they made it all about themselves. The King of Lies and Fake News took the time to trash Obama(using his supporters to spread the lies that Obama was golfing during Katrina) and trying to sell those hats(he was wearing the USA 45 hat and Melanie was wearing a white hat).
The press is reporting that The King of Lies and Fake News repeated his “both sides” rhetoric. this coming after his meeting with Tim(in the photo the WH called him Tom). What does ESPN have to say now? I don’t understand why all of these groups and people keep meeting with The King of Lies and Fake News because he just keeps using these meetings to create policies to hurt their cause. The climate change advocates and Matt D met with the King of Lies and Fake News and what did he do? Takes away protections for flood damage and withdraws from the Paris Accord. LBGTQ met with him and what happened? Bathroom bill gone. Transgender ban. Exclusion from the Civil Rights protections. Women met with him and his daughter and what did he do? Equal pay gone. Women and girls commission gone. Dismantling of college sexual assault and harassment protections.
The King of Lies and Fake News said that he didn’t contact the Mexico’s President for 3 days because he had bad reception, which is crazy because his reception was good enough to write all those tweets.
Someone leaked that The King of Lies and Fake News called Sessions an idiot and ordered him to resign during a meeting around the time that Mueller was appointed. The strange thing is how the press is losing their minds feeling sorry for Sessions and trying to depict him as a nice and polite person. Sessions has created horrible policies to facilitate his agenda, there is no sympathy for him. The King of Lies and Fake News has no one to blame but himself, he fired Comey on Jared, Ivanka, and Stephen Miller’s influence and then kept making threats to Comey on twitter. Mueller is the result of The King of Lies and Fake News actions.
Schumer and Pelosi have sold their souls. I wish that the press would ask the right questions. What did Schumer and Pelosi offer the King of Lies and Fake News to get his cooperation? hey are pushing the narrative that The King of Lies and Fake News is a smart, nice, and reasonable, acting like all his negative tweets and interviews about him never happened. If The King of Lies and Fake News as presidential, people like Pelosi and Schumer wouldn’t need to stroke his ego to what they want.
The cycle continues. The press have lost their minds praising The King of Lies and Fake News for his “response” to Florida(which was just another photo-op to promote himself and trash Obama) and “working” with the Democrats on DACA and the debt ceiling(he promises one thing when behind closed doors, but has Sarah state something different when in the public). It’s also crazy how Pelosi and Schumer are praising the King of Lies and Fake News. They are no different than Ryan and Reince. I’m not saying that they have to be mean to him, but it’s crazy how they are doing the exact same thing that they have criticized The King of Lies and Fake News for always saying nice things about Putin.
The King of Lies and Fake News is still spreading fake news about Susan Rice. She was cleared twice against the WH claims that she did something wrong by unmasking people. She didn’t do anything wrong and the press continues to let him spread these lies about Susan Rice.