WASHINGTON — An ESPN host with a history of stirring up controversy lashed out at Donald Trump in a series of Twitter posts on Monday, calling the president a “white supremacist” who is unfit to serve in the White House.
“Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists,” tweeted Jemele Hill, who co-hosts ESPN’s “SC6” with Michael Smith.
Hill’s comments about Trump followed a post in which she reacted to an article about rocker Kid Rock attacking the media and “extreme left” for trying to label him a racist. Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, concluded his lengthy Facebook post with “P.P.P.P.P.S. I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE!!”
“He loves black people so much that he pandered to racists by using a flag that unquestionably stands for dehumanizing black people,” Hill tweeted of Kid Rock, referring to his display of the Confederate flag.
The subsequent conversation eventually shifted to Trump. Hill didn’t mince words about her feelings toward the president or the impact she thinks he’s had on the nation.
“Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime,” she wrote. “His rise is the direct result of white supremacy. Period.”
Hill pointed to last month’s violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as an example of how Trump has empowered America’s white supremacists. The president famously defended both those protesting and attending the white nationalist rally, saying, “You have people who are very fine people on both sides.”
In a statement Tuesday, ESPN said Hill’s comments about Trump “do not represent the position” of the network.
“We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate,” the statement said.
The statement makes no mention of disciplinary action.