Michele Tafoya Tells Tucker Carlson Why She Left NBC Sports: ‘I’m Going to Choose to Say What I Believe’
Michele Tafoya said Wednesday she left NBC Sports following a decade of NFL sideline reporting to unleash her inner “moderate,” and to join the culture discussion.
Tafoya figured prominently in the network’s Super Bowl coverage on Sunday, and ended a career on the field after the Los Angeles Rams hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
She announced a day later she would co-chair the gubernatorial political campaign of Minnesota Republican Kendall Qualls.
“I got to a point in my life where I wanted to try other things, and there are some things that are really important to me,” Tafoya told The Athletic. “This is not to say that sports isn’t an important field, that my job isn’t an important job.”
Tafoya expounded on her exit from sports reporting during an interview Wednesday on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
She told host Tucker Carlson that NBC never muzzled her, but she did say she intends to use her voice differently without the backdrop of Sunday Night Football looming behind her.
Carlson asked Tafoya why she left her post, to which she responded,
This has been on my mind. I have been waking up every day with a palpable pull at my gut, that my side, my view, my middle ground, kind of moderate viewpoint is not being represented to the rest of the world, I didn’t feel. And so, rather than just banging it out on Twitter or Instagram every day, I thought, “I’ve got to do something. I have benefited greatly from the American dream and I feel like for the sake of my kids, and because I so love this country, I’ve got to start giving back.”
Carlson pointed to Tafoya’s recent appearance on The View in which she decried a nationwide focus on skin color.
The former sports reporter defended her words on the show, and argued that she feels America has made immense racial progress.
“I don’t think that a person like Whoopi Goldberg would have that role 50 years ago,” Tafoya told Carlson. “She has that now.”
Carlson asked Tafoya why she went on The View to defend her view of the country, knowing she would face backlash in some capacity.
“Because I don’t care if I’m attacked,” Tafoya said. “I really am not afraid of that. And I guess I feel like so many people now are afraid, and I’m not.” She added,
This is the most terrifying thing in the world to me right now. That people are afraid to talk. These are words coming out of our mouths. Yeah, we could probably hurt people with our words, I acknowledge that. But I get to choose my reaction to everybody’s words. And everybody else gets to choose their reaction to my words.
“I’m going to choose to say what I believe and what I feel very strongly about,” Tafoya concluded. “I’m going to continue this. This is the direction I’m headed.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
