White House Press Secretary: ESPN Anchor’s ‘White Supremacist’ Comment Is a ‘Fireable Offense’

WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested that Jemele Hill’s comment that President Donald Trump was a “white supremacist” should be a “fireable offense.”

“I think that is one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make,” Sanders said. “It is certainly something that I think would be a fireable offense by ESPN.”

Sanders was responding to a question at Wednesday’s press briefing. It was a rare instance of a press secretary publicly calling for the ouster of someone in the media.

ESPN reprimanded Hill, one of its anchors, on Tuesday, saying that her comments on Twitter “do not represent the position of” the network.

“We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.”

Hill, who hosts the network’s “SportsCenter,” created a furor on social media when she called the president a “white supremacist” in an extensive tweet rant.

She wrote, “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”

She also posted, “Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.”

Continuing to engage with followers on Twitter, she then wrote: “He has surrounded himself with white supremacists — no they are not ‘alt right’ — and you want me to believe he isn’t a white supremacist?”

She also wrote: “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.”

Her rant began as a comment on an article posted by the Hill about Kid Rock accusing the media of labeling him a racist. Other ESPN employees have been fired for their comments on social media, including Curt Schilling who made transphobic comments on Facebook.

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