ESPN’s Jemele Hill appeared on MSNBC with Al Sharpton this morning ahead of the Super Bowl and she criticized President Trump for his reference to protesting athletes during the State of the Union.
Trump briefly referenced “why we proudly stand for the national anthem” during his big address, a clear reference to athletes who have taken a knee during the anthem to protest issues like police brutality.
Hill, who got a lot of media attention after calling Trump a white supremacist last year, first addressed her departure from SportsCenter, while still remaining at ESPN. She said it was “100% my choice” to go from the TV position to The Undefeated.
Sharpton brought up Trump’s State of the Union comment and asked for her reaction. Hill said the following:
“I wasn’t surprised, and I think this is going to be probably a constant thing for the President, because it’s a very easy dog whistle. It’s low-hanging fruit, it’s what I like to call ‘racial pornography,’ because it’s a way to stoke his base and––look, in a weird way, I think it’s kind of weirdly brilliant, because he has been able to hijack the entire conversation and to make this about patriotism.”
She defended the players’ actions as self-evidently patriotic and said critics are just “latch[ing] onto ceremony as opposed to understanding what this cause is really about.”
Trump briefly referenced “why we proudly stand for the national anthem” during his big address, a clear reference to athletes who have taken a knee during the anthem to protest issues like police brutality.
Hill, who got a lot of media attention after calling Trump a white supremacist last year, first addressed her departure from SportsCenter, while still remaining at ESPN. She said it was “100% my choice” to go from the TV position to The Undefeated.
Sharpton brought up Trump’s State of the Union comment and asked for her reaction. Hill said the following:
“I wasn’t surprised, and I think this is going to be probably a constant thing for the President, because it’s a very easy dog whistle. It’s low-hanging fruit, it’s what I like to call ‘racial pornography,’ because it’s a way to stoke his base and––look, in a weird way, I think it’s kind of weirdly brilliant, because he has been able to hijack the entire conversation and to make this about patriotism.”
She defended the players’ actions as self-evidently patriotic and said critics are just “latch[ing] onto ceremony as opposed to understanding what this cause is really about.”
guy is an embarrassment. Jemele should be his co host, they both are fukin clowns.
