A CNN segment about the White House call for ESPN to fire achor Jemele Hill after she called President Donald Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter went off the rails this afternoon when Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis was given the floor.
“ESPN is not in the business of commenting randomly on political-related issues,” he began.
So far so good.
“They established about 18 months ago that their people shouldn’t be involved in non-sports-related political controversies,” Travis said, claiming the Disney-owned network fired Curt Schilling for saying he disagreed with the North Carolina transgender bathroom bill.
“That had absolutely nothing to do with sports,” he added. “And they said, ‘You can’t have that opinion; it’s too conservative, we’re not going to allow it.’”
Travis called that a “bad move,” explaining, “I am a First Amendment absolutist. I believe in only two things absolutely: the First Amendment and boobs. And so, they made the decision that they were not going to allow a conservative non-sports commentary –“
“Hold on! Hold on!,” host Brooke Baldwin jumped in. “I just want to make sure I understood you correctly, as a woman anchoring the show. What did you just say? Did you just say you believe in in the First Amendment and B-double-O-B-S?”
“Boobs,” he repeated helpfully. “Two things that have never let me down in this entire country’s history: the First Amendment and boobs. So those ares the only two things I believe in absolutely in the country. … Once you make the decision you’re going to let Curt Schilling go, you have to make the decision you’re going to let Jemele Hill go.”
Travis said ESPN’s numbers are “collapsing” and that is why Hill made her remark on Twitter, speculating that she is “begging for ESPN to fire her so she can work somewhere else.”
Baldwin threw to her other talking head, ESPN’s Keith Reed, who had the good sense to say right off the bat, “I’m astonished at almost everything I just heard.”
“You don’t love boobs too?” Travis snarked.
“I’m still there too,” Baldwin said in response to Reed, once again asking Travis, “I just want to make sure I’m hearing you correctly: booze or boobs. Because as a woman, I’m —
“I said boobs,” he said, raising his count to five.. I believe completely in the Firstst Amendment and boobs.”
“Why are you sitting here, live on CNN – why would you even say that live on national television and with female host?” Baldwin asked, rhetorically.
“I say it live on radio all the time. Because it’s true. That’s what I do,” he grinned. Finally, Baldwin yanked Travis’ mic and apologized to viewers.
And, of course, Clay Travis now is trending worldwide on Twitter.