ESPN’s “SportsCenter” co-host Jemele Hill called President Trump a “white supremacist” and a “bigot” in a series of tweets on Monday, prompting a rebuke from the network.
Hill’s comments came after she started a Twitter conversation by claiming that musician Kid Rock, who is teasing a run for the Senate, had “pandered to racists” with his use of the confederate flag.
ESPN responded to Hill’s Twitter tirade, saying “The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the president do not represent the position of ESPN. We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.”
Hill originally took issue with Kid Rock’s use of the confederate flag at concerts, which the musician said in a Facebook post on Monday was only receiving backlash from critics trying to “stir the pot,” and said that “I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE!!”
Trump has faced bipartisan criticism for his remarks in the wake of deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., after which he said there were some “very fine people” among a white nationalist demonstration.
During last year’s campaign, Trump repeatedly retweeted white supremacists from his popular Twitter account.