Jemele Hill (pictured) should be fired from her job as an ESPN commentator, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has called for ESPN host Jemele Hill to be fired for calling Donald Trump a ‘white supremacist.’
Hill tweeted Monday that Trump is a ‘bigot’ and a ‘white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/other white supremacists.’
She also called him ‘unqualified and unfit to be president’ and said that ‘if he were not white, he would never have been elected’.
On Wednesday, during a White House briefing on hurricane relief, Sanders responded by saying that she thought the ‘outrageous’ remarks should be a ‘fireable offense.’
Sanders had been asked by a reporter about whether the president was familiar with Hill’s remarks, and whether the White House had a response to them.
‘I’m not sure if he’s aware but I think that’s one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make,’ Sanders replied.
‘And certainly is something that I think is a fireable offense by ESPN.’
The channel itself distanced itself from the host’s remarks on Tuesday when its ESPN PR Twitter account tweeted: ‘The comments on Twitter 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.’
Hill called President Trump ‘a white supremacist’ in a social media rant on Monday, something that Sanders called ‘outrageous’ and a fireable offense
She said Trump is ‘unqualified and ‘unfit’ for the role presidency
Hill has not publicly addressed the controversy on her Twitter account.
The furor kicked off while Hill was in a conversation regarding ‘racist’ singer Kid Rock’s potential Senate run.
She transferred the conversation over to the President, writing in fiery tweets: ‘Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
‘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.
‘Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.’
She also called him a ‘bigot,’ and write: ‘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.’
The comments, which have since been deleted, received backlash and praise
ESPN PR addressed the comments on Tuesday as ‘inappropriate’
Just weeks ago, Hill was slammed for comparing police officers to the ‘slave patrols’ that enforced discipline on pre-Civil War plantations.
Hill made the remarks in late July on Twitter again, echoing comments made by the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.
Hill was lamenting that Kaepernick, who has struggled to find a new contract after making repeated headlines for his protests against the treatment of non-whites, had not been signed by the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens, looking for a passer after quarterback Joe Flacco suffered a back injury, instead signed complete unknown David Olson, who completed three passes in college and most recently played arena football in Kansas City.
Hill made more remarks in late July on Twitter, echoing comments made by the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick
Hill lamented that Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, had not been signed by the Baltimore Ravens or any other team after turning free agent
Kaepernick (number seven) courted controversy last season by refusing to stand for The Star-Spangled Banner before NFL games, and has struggled to find a new contract in the off-season
‘Oh and ICYMI, the Ravens signed a dude who quit football to be a realtor and played in 2 games in college over a Super Bowl QB,’ Hill tweeted, referring to Kaepernick’s starting quarterback role in the 2013 season, in which the 49ers lost the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks.
‘I feel like it’s been forgotten that he basically called (all) cops ‘slave patrol.’ I mean, that’s pretty inflammatory,’ responded Nathanael Johnson, offering a possible rationale for the Raven’s decision.
In June, Kaepernick, responding to the jury verdict that acquitted the police officer who shot Philando Castile, posted a picture that showed similarly shaped badges reading ‘Runaway Slave Patrol’ and ‘Police Officer’.
Slave patrols were groups of white men who used force and violence to impose discipline on the black slave populations of antebellum plantations in the southern states.
Hill said the comparison of police to ‘slave patrols’ was ‘inflammatory, but historically accurate’
In June, Kaepernick posted this tweet responding to the jury verdict that acquitted the police officer who shot Philando Castile
‘Inflammatory, but historically accurate,’ Hill responded to Johnson’s comment, endorsing the comparison.
Johnson replied: ‘There’s historically truth there, yes … but is it fair to say now to all the cops, esp when many minorities serve?’
Amid subscriber losses, ESPN has increasingly been accused of pushing a ‘liberal’ political agenda, accusations Hill has often been at the center of.
She responded to these claims at a June conference in Manhattan.
Hill has responded to claims that ESPN is increasingly pushing a ‘liberal’ political agenda
‘Sports have always been political,’ Hill said in remarks reported by Yahoo Finance.
Hill said that athletes often push political agendas, ‘dragging’ sports journalists who cover them along with them.
She also implied that complaints over the alleged liberal bent were really racist sentiment in disguise.
‘As you see more ethnic diversity, then all of a sudden ESPN is too liberal,’ she said. ‘So I wonder, when people say that, what they’re really saying.’