"His call-in appearance on Tuesday's program to mark Veterans Day was meant to be a major coup for ESPN, the first time Trump had been interviewed on the network as a sitting president. But viewers could have just as easily been mistaken into believing they were watching Fox News. Trump took his usual shots at Joe Biden, claimed credit for the Department for Veteran Affairs' high approval ratings and declared victory over the Democrats in a government shut down."
"Rather than push back against the political self-promotion, McAfee cheered Trump on before opening the floor to his lackeys to ask him which NFL coach would make a great president. It was all delivered live from South Carolina's Parris Island, the US's oldest Marine depot, which gave McAfee further excuse to goad the commander-in-chief into barking oorah a Marine battle cry that the recruits present were duty bound to respond to in kind."
"There was a time when right-wing critics who saw ESPN as liberal leaning had a point. Jemele Hill and Michael Smith, both unapologetically progressive, anchored SportsCenter on weekday evenings. Hill and Smith opening the show with a homage to the Black TV touchstone A Different World was perhaps woke ESPN's apex. But as Trump's first administration wore on and the president and his allies fired potshots at the sports world."
Donald Trump appeared on the Pat McAfee Show via call-in on Veterans Day broadcast on ESPN, delivering partisan attacks and self-praise while host Pat McAfee and assembled recruits cheered. The broadcast featured pro-Trump rhetoric, Marines responding to a shouted oorah, and no substantive pushback from the show. ESPN previously employed outspoken progressive hosts like Jemele Hill and Michael Smith, who showcased culturally specific references and frank commentary. Under executives Jimmy Pitaro and Bob Iger, ESPN discouraged employees from engaging where sports and politics intersect, sidelining critics and narrowing coverage. The network shifted from a perceived liberal tilt toward depoliticized sports programming amid political pressure.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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