Journalist Jemele Hill sat in on The View today and set co-host Meghan McCain straight about her infamous tweet calling Donald Trump and his administration white supremacists.
The tweet in question was posted around the time of the deadly Charlottesville white supremacist rally and Trump’s tepid response that there were “fine people on both sides.” At the time of the tweet last year, Trump took to his Twitter account to demand that ESPN fire Hill.
Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017
ESPN did not comply with the commander-in-tweeter’s demand, but eventually suspended Jemele Hill for a later tweet where she suggested that the way to support NFL protestors was to boycott advertisers. Hill has since left her hosting position on SportsCenter for a job at another ESPN property, The Undefeated.
On The View, McCain asked Hill if she stood by her tweets about Trump and his administration, noting that she herself has fired off tweets she later regretted. “I’ve tweeted things in the heat of the moment when I’ve been emotional. It’s something I’ve had to learn the hard way not to do as I’ve grown in my career. Do you still stand by what you said and do you think President Trump’s supporters are white supremacists?”
“I still stand by what I said,” Hill replied. “I don’t think that his supporters are white supremacists. What I would say, though, is that they have the privilege, the benefit of privilege, to be able to distance and disassociate themselves from certain issues. Me as a woman of color, I feel vulnerable to certain behaviors, certain policies, certain things that he’s said and done.”
In an attempt to get Hill to yield on her statement, McCain asked if HUD Secretary Ben Carson is a white supremacist. Not taking the bait, Hill immediately stated that Carson is obviously not a white supremacist. McCain pressed on saying that Hill’s tweet was talking about the entire administration.
“I didn’t say he was surrounded by all white supremacists or that everyone was a white supremacist. Obviously Steve Bannon, I can go down the list of people who have at the very least played footsie with white supremacists,” replied Hill.
McCain had no further questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSoLPm6a2yo