White House Wants Reporter Who Said ‘Donald Trump Is a White Supremacist’ Fired (Video)

Sarah Sanders Calls for Firing of ESPN’s Jemele Hill Despite Speech Being Constitutionally Protected

ESPN “SportsCenter” host Jemele Hill on Twitter Monday night called President Donald Trump “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists,” and added: “Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.”

Wednesday afternoon those tweets were spoken aloud, on camera, in the White House press briefing room, by a reporter quoting them and asking for a response.

Hearing “Donald Trump is a white supremacist” on national television is pretty surreal. 

After verbalizing the tweets, David Nakamura of The Washington Post asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders if President Trump was aware of Hills’ remarks, and if the White House had a response.

“I think that is one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make,” Sanders said. “It is certainly something that I think would be a fireable offense by ESPN.”

“If the president was so clear in what he said,” in denouncing white supremacist groups, Nakamura continued, “why do you think influential African-American figures are saying things like this?”

Hill is African American.

“I’m not going to speak for that individual, but I know that the president has met, again, with people like Sen. Scott, who are highly respected leaders in the African-American community.”

Huckabee Sanders was refering to a meeting Trump held with the Republicans’ only Black Senator, Tim Scott, which Trump had refused for months. He held it Wednesday afternoon.

On social media, some were quick to point out how wrong Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ response was, and why:

ACLU’s Matthew Segal‏:

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