Sports

ESPN Tight-Lipped Over Whether It Will Punish Host For Comparing Tea Party To ISIS

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, is not saying whether it will punish talk show host and frequent Obama golf partner Tony Kornheiser for comparing the tea party to ISIS on his radio show last week.

The network declined to comment after The Daily Caller pointed out the similarities between Kornheiser’s comments and those that got ESPN baseball analyst Curt Schilling suspended in September for the remainder of the baseball regular season.

Schilling was benched after he sent a tweet comparing Muslim extremists to Nazis.

Kornheiser ventured into similar territory during an interview on his radio show on Friday with Howard Fineman of the Huffington Post. (RELATED: ESPN Radio Host Compares Tea Party Congressmen To ISIS)

Fineman asserted that Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan will struggle to tame the small government wing of the Republican party if he is elected Speaker of the House. He said that the tea party faction of the GOP rebels “dictatorial” leaders.

“Are they like ISIS trying to establish a Caliphate here?” Kornheiser asked.

“Yes, yes. That’s a very good analogy,” Fineman responded. “Without the violence obviously, but yes, they are a rejectionist front.”

Few appeared concerned with Fineman’s outlandish comments. The well-known liberal journalist took over as global editorial director for the liberal Huffington Post in 2010.

But the backlash against Kornheiser rippled through social media on Tuesday.

If Kornheiser was punished on Tuesday, it would have occurred between his midday radio show on his nightly TV show, “Pardon the Interruption.” (RELATED: ESPN Has No Balls)

Kornheiser hosted the radio show but was absent from “Pardon the Interruption,” even though he discussed guests for the TV show with his radio producer. Kornheiser’s “Pardon the Interruption” co-host, Michael Wilbon, also an Obama golf partner, said that Kornheiser was off for the night.

Asked if Kornheiser’s absence from “Pardon the Interruption” was related to his comments about the tea party, an ESPN spokesman said “no,” but did not elaborate.

Kornheiser’s comments have landed him in hot water before.

He was suspended for two weeks in Feb. 2010 for criticizing an outfit worn by “SportsCenter” anchor, Hannah Storm.

“A horrifying, horrifying outfit today,” Kornheiser said of the 47-year-old Storm’s wardrobe. “She’s got on red go-go boots and a Catholic school plaid skirt…way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now.”

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