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Dan Le Batard is back on his ESPN show: For now?

Chris Graham

Dan Le Batard returned to his show on ESPN Radio on Tuesday, admitting that he is “scared” and just trying to get through the next couple of days, after a controversy over comments he made on his show last week critical of President Trump.

radio
Credit: Patrick Daxenbichler
Which were, of course, on base. Le Batard, who has 2.3 million daily listeners on ESPN Radio, called out the corporate overlords last Thursday for ESPN’s “stick to sports” philosophy in the wake of a flood of racially-charged comments from Trump aimed at four congressional Democrats, all women, all persons of color, that included a recommendation from the president that the four should go back where they came from, ignorant of the fact that three were born in the United States, and that the fourth is a naturalized citizen.

Le Batard missed the first hour of his Friday show, and then sat out the entirety of the Monday show, swirling speculation that the two sides are headed toward a messy divorce, akin to the departure of former “SportsCenter” host Jemele Hill, who left ESPN in 2018 after she tweeted that Trump is a “white supremacist” and “bigot,” and then tweeted a month later in favor of an advertiser boycott against the Dallas Cowboys after the team’s owner, Jerry Jones, had said that players who might kneel during the national anthem would not play for his team.

Le Batard, a first-generation American, the son of Cuban emigres, spoke out following a North Carolina Trump campaign rally in which the president doubled down on his attacks on the congresswomen, and stood silent during a lengthy “send her back” chant from the crowd directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

Le Batard said he found the attacks on Omar to be un-American, and was critical of ESPN for it’s no-politics edict.

“We here at ESPN don’t have the stomach for the fight,” Le Batard said. “We don’t talk about what is happening unless there is some sort of weak, cowardly sports angle that we can run it through.”

Story by Chris Graham

 
 

 




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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected]. Support AFP by signing up for our newsletter and/or powering our work with a one-time or monthly contribution.

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