At ESPN, Only Liberals Are Allowed To Talk Politics | Bobby Burack

In 2022, Stephen A. Smith publicly challenged ESPN's "ban on politics" policy. He questioned his employer for selectively enforcing the rule, depending on who violates it.

"You can't let one person get away with it and not let the other person get away with it," Smith said on Dan Le Batard's podcast. "The rules have to be for everybody."

Three years later, ESPN continues to pick and choose who can and cannot get away with discussing political issues on-air.

For the record, Stephen A. has since negotiated a contract that exempts him from said policy when appearing on programs outside of ESPN, be it his podcast, Fox News, or NewsNation. According to several sources inside ESPN, he is the only full-time employee with such a clause in his contract. Every other ESPN talent is expected to abide by the policy – at least in theory.

In actuality, ESPN's political ban only applies to conservatives. While that statement may sound overly simplistic, we find it increasingly challenging to dispute.

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ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told reporters in 2018 that ESPN is "not a political organization" and that talents are not to comment on politics unless the story relates to the world of sports. As a result, the company suspended Sage Steele in 2021 for discussing vaccine mandates and Barack Obama declaring himself black on the U.S. Census.

Yet, just last week, Elle Duncan and guest Robin Roberts praised former First Lady Michelle Obama on the debut of ESPN's new all-women's sports show, "Vibe Check."  Specifically, Duncan brought up Michelle and claimed "everyone" loves her.

A) Most Americans don't love her. B) By company standards, ESPN should have suspended Duncan for going off script and discussing a political figure.

At the very least, ESPN’s PR team should have issued a statement condemning her comments. Here is what ESPN said about Sage Steele in a press release after she spoke about politics as an employee of ESPN:

"At ESPN, we embrace different points of view – dialogue and discussion makes this place great. That said, we expect that those points of view be expressed respectfully, in a manner consistent with our values, and in line with our internal policies. We are having direct conversations with Sage and those conversations will remain private."

Sources say ESPN has not had any direct conversations with Duncan over her remarks, nor did the network when she protested the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act during the coverage of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Like Steele, Ashley Brewer is another former ESPN anchor with conservative views. Last April, Brewer told a story about how the network ordered her to remove a photo she posted with a Republican congressman at a sporting event.

"Never forget when I got chewed out by my boss for posting a pic of a republican congressman & UFC fighter on my instagram story at the Mcgregor fight. LOL," Brewer wrote on X.

It's understandable that a sports network would want to avoid its public-facing personalities posing with politicians – it's polarizing and potentially bad for business. What’s harder to understand is why ESPN doesn't apply that same standard to Mark Jones, whose cover photo on X shows him laughing with Barack Obama:

Speaking of Mark Jones, here is a rundown of just some of his ghoulish posts on Twitter/X in recent years:

• False claims that stadium police officers were going to shoot him dead because he is black.
• Tweets telling Rush Limbaugh to "rot in hell" the day the conservative broadcaster's wife announced her husband had died of lung cancer.
• Lies about the police murdering Jacob Blake, who is still alive.
• Posts calling Stephen A. Smith a "coon."
• Posts calling his white colleagues and bosses "blind to racism in front of him."
• Tweets celebrating Nick Bosa tearing his ACL as "payback for standing for the national anthem" and supporting Donald Trump.
• Claims that the Batman character is rooted in racism.
• A photo saying, "MAGA women are skanks."
• Claims that Gov. Ron DeSantis is a "member of the KKK." (He's not.)
• Claims that Aaron Rodgers is a member of QAnon. (He's not.)
• Statements that white people "appropriated" Jesus.
• Debunked claims that the police shot Breonna Taylor when they saw her skin color. (They never saw her.)
• A tweet from Bishop Talbert Swan that white people are "demonic forces of evil."
• A tweet comparing Jason Whitlock to a house slave from the film "Django Unchained."
• Tweets calling Queen Elizabeth a "racist" on the day she died.

Anyway, ESPN recently re-signed Jones to a new contract.

OutKick readers will likely remember last summer when ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes accused us of "spreading dangerous lies" about her. What lies did we spread? Unfortunately, Kimes refuses to say. Nevertheless, the crux of Kimes' criticism was an article we posted pointing out the hypocrisy in ESPN allowing her to endorse then-vice presidential nominee Tim Walz.

"There's something, to me, really important about seeing someone like this modeling a different kind of masculinity," Kimes said of Walz. "This man, the year he was a football coach, led the gay–straight alliance at the high school. That's really powerful in a way that goes far beyond politics."

If you are into politicians who put tampons in boys' locker rooms and desert their soldiers when they're deployed to a combat zone, so be it. But just imagine the repercussions if someone at the network made similar remarks about J.D. Vance.

Moreover, this wasn't the first time Kimes supported a political candidate publicly while under contract with ESPN. Two years prior, she asked her followers to join her in voting for Karen Bass as mayor of Los Angeles.

ESPN personalities Ryan Clark, Elle Duncan and Mina Kimes. (Credit: Getty Images)

At least she didn't "like" an X post of mine or Clay Travis', for which sources say several ESPN personalities have been rebuked by management.

Other examples of ESPN ignoring its political policy when violated include Malika Andrews scolding the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade, Max Kellerman accusing "extremist right-wing agitators" of staging BLM riots, Marcus Spears lying about the Jan. 6 death toll, and Dan Le Batard defending Democrat representative Ilhan Omar on ESPN.

Put simply, there are different rules for liberals and conservatives at ESPN – just like there are different standards for white and black commentators at ESPN. Advice: don't be a white conservative at ESPN (or at any legacy media operation).

And that is no way to run a company. ESPN is different from, say, OutKick or Meadowlark Media in that it is a mainstream sports network with the intent of reaching all sports fans, regardless of political leanings. At that, ESPN is failing.

RELATED: Elle Duncan Calls Out ESPN Teammate Kirk Herbstreit Over Comments About Her Fandom

The on-air commentators know it, too. Elle Duncan fawned over Michelle Obama on ESPN airwaves because she knew she could. She knew her mostly white bosses wouldn't dare reprimand her as a black woman supporting another black woman. Similarly, Ryan Clark knows ESPN won't say a word when he comments on Donald Trump bombing Iran or grossly criticizing interracial marriage. 

However, there is a kicker. Duncan and Clark's colleagues are also aware of the inner workings. As a result, Jimmy Pitaro has begun to lose his locker room. By allowing people of certain races and political ideologies to make a mockery of the entire company, ESPN has created a fractured roster of rightfully disgruntled employees.

People used to be proud to work for ESPN. Today, many tell OutKick they are embarrassed. They are embarrassed by how their co-workers act and how their cowardly bosses sit idly by in fear.

ESPN could quickly improve its reputation, both internally and externally, by enforcing its "ban on politics" rule universally. However, that would require the company telling the wokes, DEI hires, and White Dudes for Kamala to "stick to sports." Evidently, ESPN management isn't ready to do that. 

To Stephen A's point, the rules should be for everyone. But they aren't.