ESPN host Jemele Hill called Donald Trump a white supremacist on Monday, and, four days later, she’s still dominating the news cycle.
Donald Trump addressed the ESPN controversy with a tweet Friday morning, and later that afternoon, the subject caused a heated back and forth at the daily White House press briefing.
Earlier this week ,White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that Hill’s comments about the president should be a fireable offense. On Friday MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson asked her to clarify those comments.
Here’s what she said.
“That’s not a decision that I’m going to make, that’s something for ESPN to decide. Again, I was asked about that. I think it is a fireable offense based on the standard that ESPN has set themselves by saying that people that go too far and make political comments have been suspended from their own network. I think that that is a consistency that they should probably focus on.”
Jackson, unsatisfied with Sanders clarification, continued to butt in after her response until Sanders shut her down and moved on with the briefing.
“I said it’s not my decision to make for a private company. I was asked specific about that individual. I made a comment, and I stand by it. I think ESPN needs to stand by the standard that they have set in the own actions that they’ve taken about previous employees. I really don’t have much to add on that front.”