A former ESPN host sparked a debate about prejudice and politics Sunday by alleging that Americans who vote for President Trump are racist.
The former host, Jemele Hill, is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and host of a Spotify podcast, Jemele Hill is Unbothered. At ESPN, she hosted SportsCenter, His and Hers, and Mike & Mike.
“If you vote for Donald Trump, you are a racist. You have no wiggle room,” Hill tweeted.
If you vote for Donald Trump, you are a racist. You have no wiggle room.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 19, 2020
The tweet received more than 250,000 likes and was re-tweeted 60,000 times. It also led to more than 45,000 comments.
Some agreed.
“Amen! I concur,” one person wrote.
Amen! I concur 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— G. Crump (@gcrump21) July 20, 2020
Others, though, said Hill had crossed a line.
“How can you call someone a racist when you don’t know anything about them?” one person tweeted.
How can you call someone a raciest when you don’t know anything about them? Do you know I voted for trump and will vote for him again, and I do not have a raciest bone in my body. Married a beautiful African American woman and have a beautiful mixed daughter.
— Trey (@trey242402) July 19, 2020
“I am voting for President Trump and so is the rest of my Hispanic family,” another person tweeted.
I am voting for president Trump and so is the rest of my Hispanic family 🇺🇸
— Kambree (@KamVTV) July 19, 2020
Jenna Ellis, a legal advisor to Trump and a senior fellow at Liberty University’s Falkirk Center, also criticized Hill’s logic.
“Plainly absurd comments like this only create more resolve among reasonable people that leftists should never be in charge of anything,” Ellis tweeted. “We’ll vote Trump proudly regardless of your silly little threats to call us names.”
Plainly absurd comments like this only create more resolve among reasonable people that leftists should never be in charge of anything.
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) July 19, 2020
We’ll vote Trump proudly regardless of your silly little threats to call us names. https://t.co/Oh9oSE6f8m
Hill responded to Ellis by writing, “Don’t make my tweet the reason you’re voting for a racist, because if based off all he’s done, all it takes for a tweet to make you more convicted about Trump, then you wanted to vote for him regardless. Just admit you like the bigotry and racism. It’s cool, sis.”
Don’t make my tweet the reason you’re voting for a racist, because if based off all he’s done, all it takes for a tweet to make you more convicted about Trump, then you wanted to vote for him regardless. Just admit you like the bigotry and racism. It’s cool, sis. https://t.co/RjYAKpOiUh
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 19, 2020
Later, Hill posted a tweet that included a definition of “racist.” She indicated her agreement with the definition: “RACIST: One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea.”
Thisssssssssssss https://t.co/eFzMWyCSIP
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 19, 2020
In 2017, Hill was briefly suspended from her role at ESPN after tweeting that Trump was a “white supremacist.” She left the sports network in 2018.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Daniel Boczarski/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
