Clay Travis Implores Fox News to Recruit Sage Steele After Blasting ESPN’s Suspension as ‘Absolute Madness’
If Sage Steele and ESPN are heading toward a divorce, Clay Travis wants Fox News to step in and woo the conservative sportscaster.
Steele recently blasted ESPN’s vaccine mandate as “scary,” questioned former President Barack Obama’s racial identity, criticized women in sports media, and tested positive for Covid. As backlash poured in, ESPN decided Steele should take the week off. The decision was necessary based on her positive Covid test, but Travis labeled ESPN’s judgment on the issue “absolute madness.”
“I applaud her for saying what I think many people who are employees out there are either afraid to say or worried about their job if they speak out and say it,” Travis told Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino on Fox News. “Which is vaccine mandates…strike many of us as wrong.”
Steele, who joined ESPN in 2007, ranted against the vaccine mandate on a podcast hosted by former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler. The SportsCenter anchor acknowledged she gave in to the mandate and got her first jab shortly before the Sept. 30 deadline. She reportedly tested positive for Covid the following week.
“The reality is, Jemele Hill when she was working at ESPN called Donald Trump a White supremacist and nothing happened to her,” Travis said on America’s Newsroom. “ESPN didn’t do anything. Now Sage Steele is getting suspended for stepping out and saying she doesn’t think the company should have a vaccine mandate? I think that’s absolute madness.”
Hill used her personal Twitter account to blast Trump as a White supremacist in 2017. She was not immediately suspended, but ESPN’s president labeled Hill’s tweet a violation of company standards.
Two weeks later, Hill was suspended for a second violation of ESPN’s social media guidelines after she reacted to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones claiming he would bench any player who disrespects the flag. At the time, Hill attempted to coordinate a boycott against Cowboys advertisers.
While it has been decided that Steele will not appear on any ESPN platforms this week, her return to the network has not been announced. Travis said he believes there is a “decent chance” Steele will not return to ESPN as further fallout from her interview with Cutler.
“I would encourage Fox News to talk to her,” the Outkick founder said. “It’s our 25th anniversary, we need to continue to stock our bench with as much talent as we can get.”
“If ESPN thinks Sage Steele is in the wrong for speaking out about her opinion on mandatory vaccines, I think there are a lot of media companies that would welcome her with open arms over being as outspoken and honest as she is,” Travis added.
Watch above via Fox News
