Ben Shapiro Slams ESPN for ‘Vicious’ Bashing of Trump and Political Hypocrisy: They ‘Silenced’ Sage Steele for Insulting Obama
The drama between ESPN and their conservative talent Sage Steele is transcending sports media and The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro is the latest to offer the SportsCenter anchor some support.
Steele, who joined ESPN in 2007, was pulled from their airwaves this week after making several divisive comments during a podcast with former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler. While her controversial headlines weighed into ESPN’s decision, the network ultimately removed Steele from on-air responsibilities after reportedly testing positive for Covid.
The positive test ironically occurred one week after she blasted ESPN’s vaccine mandate as “sick and scary.” In addition to criticizing her longtime employer’s safety precautions, Steele also slandered former President Barack Obama for his racial identity.
“I think that’s fascinating considering his black dad was nowhere to be found, but his white mom and grandma raised him,” Steele said of Obama identifying as Black on a 2010 census report. Steele’s comments on Obama, vaccine mandates, and women in sports media caused her to issue an apology Tuesday morning, something Shapiro didn’t think was necessary.
“Sage [Steele] is terrific at her job,” Shapiro tweeted. “But she must be silenced because she thinks differently about vaccine mandates and Barack Obama.”
Nearly the entire ESPN staff spent four years tearing into Trump in the most vicious terms. Steele criticizes Obama and she's suspended immediately.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 6, 2021
“Nearly the entire ESPN staff spent four years tearing into Trump in the most vicious terms. Steele criticizes Obama and she’s suspended immediately,” the conservative podcaster added.
Shapiro previously criticized ESPN for wading into politics, demanding the network “stick to sports,” something Steele failed to do while recording a podcast with Cutler. But Shapiro’s ire stemmed from ESPN’s supposed inclination to let their employees bash Donald Trump and not democratic presidents.
ESPN appears to employ more talent willing to vocalize their disdain for Trump than personalities who will show public support for the former Republican president. But the company has reprimanded people on both sides.
When Jemele Hill used her personal Twitter account to call Trump a “white supremacist” in 2017, ESPN’s then-president John Skipper reaffirmed the network’s principles and labeled her tweet as one that violated company standards. Two weeks later, Hill was suspended for violating ESPN’s social media guidelines, and one year later she parted ways with the company.
Former SportsCenter anchor Kenny Mayne also recently stated he was privately reprimanded for making what he believed was a harmless joke about Trump. Mayne and ESPN similarly parted ways earlier this year.
Steele, who remains a premier talent at ESPN, will not be anchoring SportsCenter this week, but no timetable has been given for her return.
