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Home • News

White House Calls Jemele Hill's Trump Comment A "Fireable Offense'

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Hill's remarks were "outrageous."
White House Calls Jemele Hill's Trump Comment A 'Fireable Offense'
D Dipasupil/
By Sydney Scott · Updated October 26, 2020
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On Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders fired back at ESPN’s Jemele Hill after the journalist and ESPN host called Donald Trump a “white supremecist.” According to The Washington Post, Sanders told reporters, “That’s one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make and certainly something that I think is a fireable offense by ESPN.” On Monday, Hill issued a series of tweets in which she stated, “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”

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. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017

No the media doesn't make it a threat. It IS a threat. He has empowered white supremacists (see: Charlottesville).

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017

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

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017

Donald Trump is a bigot. Glad you could live with voting for him. I couldn't, because I cared about more than just myself

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017

And it's funny how you cling to Benghazi but I bet you didn't give one thought to what Trump said about the Central Park 5

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2017
ESPN later issued a statement condemning Hill’s comments, stating that the host “recognizes her actions were inappropriate.”

ESPN Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/3kfexjx9zQ

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 12, 2017
The network quickly came under fire with many believing ESPN had decided to take a conservative approach to Trump’s presidency.

.@espn what will Trump have to do you for to disavow his statements/actions? He's racist, sexist, misogynistic & xenophobic & you're silent.

— deray (@deray) September 13, 2017

I'm sure I'm not the 1st to say this but it is entirely possible that @jemelehill's greatness may just be too great for ESPN.

— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) September 13, 2017

I stand with #JemeleHill. ESPN: Do NOT give in to this egregious illegal assault from a lifelong racist.

— Mark Frost (@mfrost11) September 13, 2017
While Trump’s views on white supremacy haven’t quite been clear, Sanders said on Wednesday, “I know that the president has met with people like Senator Scott who are highly respected leaders in the African American community. 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.”