Two former ESPN employees are now disagreeing with each other about critical race theory.
Jemele Hill, ESPN’s former controversial host who is now set to star on CNN’s new streaming platform, criticized Michele Tafoya, who recently stepped away as NBC’s sideline reporter to jump into Republican politics, for her views on education and race when appearing on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show Wednesday night.
“It breaks my heart that my kids are being taught that skin color matters,” said Tafoya, who worked at ESPN from 2000 to 2011.
In response, Hill, who called then-President Donald Trump a “White supremacist” in 2017, attacked Tafoya’s decision to leave her job as sideline reporter for “Sunday Night Football” to talk about “a made-up issue,” referring to critical race theory.
“Imagine leaving a high-profile job over a made-up issue,” Hill tweeted. “Does Michele Tafoya even know what CRT is? Does she have kids in school being taught CRT? Can she provide any examples?”
Imagine leaving a high-profile job over a made-up issue. Does Michele Tafoya even know what CRT is? Does she have kids in school being taught CRT? Can she provide any examples? https://t.co/s5ryE9ovoM
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 17, 2022
The tweet by Ms. Hill is similar to many she’s had in recent years, many of which criticizing Republican politicians. She was suspended by ESPN in October 2017 after saying NFL fans should boycott Dallas Cowboys advertisers after owner Jerry Jones said during the NFL’s kneeling saga that he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the national anthem.
In 2020, Hill tweeted that all Trump voters are “racist.” Last year, she called Sen. Joe Manchin III a “cowardly, power-hungry White dude” because the West Virginia Democrat wouldn’t change rules to the filibuster to pass a voting rights bill.
She also tweeted that America “loves White supremacy” after Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia gubernatorial race.
Tafoya, who is now co-chairing Republican Kendall Qualls’ Minnesota gubernatorial campaign, told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch that she was leaving NBC because she wanted to be “free to be as vocal about world events that I’m concerned about.”
Last year, Tafoya went viral after saying on “The View” that she did not have sympathy for former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and that “there are two sides” to the kneeling controversy.
Michele Tafoya gleefully eggs The View crowd to “bring it on” after they groan at her Colin Kaepernick take. pic.twitter.com/46rbGgS0qJ
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 3, 2021
In Tafoya’s interview on Fox News, Carlson brought up her day on ABC’s “The View,” showing a clip in which she talked about discussions of race in school.
“I’m just astonished that we’re so looking in the rear-view mirror and not absorbing the progress we’ve made in this country and building on it and recognizing it,” Tafoya said Wednesday. “I don’t think a person like Whoopi Goldberg would have had that role 50 years ago. She has that now.”
“Why are we separating our kids?” she added. “The world is integrated. Let’s continue that and have everyone find out what we all have in common, not just what we have in common with people who look like us.”
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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