Former ESPN Diva Cari Champion Gets Schooled By Scott Jennings On CNN Over Free Speech, X, Trump

Cari Champion is a former ESPN host, best known as the sidekick to Jemele Hill. When ESPN lowballed her in 2022 – as a way to push her out of the company – she signed a deal with ViceTV to host a program with Hill. The show failed. 

She then worked out a deal with Jeff Zucker to anchor a program for CNN+, also with Hill. The entire streaming service failed. Champion then showed up on Amazon Prime to host a show for its new sports vertical. That show also failed.

Thereby, Champion had been out of sight for months – until Monday night, when she appeared on CNN for one of Abby Phillip's panels. It didn't go well.

She began by stating that we "cannot let" Elon Musk buy MSNBC because the channel is too important. Champion believes that MSNBC is of extra importance because Donald Trump is going to crack down on free speech.

"We are in for some tough years ahead," Champion said, referring to the media. "I do not believe that we are not going to be as safe or say what we want to. I don’t think free speech is going to be as free."

Hmm. 

Trump held the White House from 2016 to 2020 and free speech was never a target. In fact, the government did not target free speech until 2021, when the Biden-Harris administration pressured Meta and Twitter to censor ordinary Americans on its behalf. The latter is an obvious violation of the U.S. Constitution as the law views private companies that carry out unconstitutional tasks for the government as "state actors." More on that here. 

But those facts are probably a bit over Cari's head. Based on her next point of contention, she's not all that bright.

Immediately after pretending to fear Trump would limit free speech in America, Champion bemoaned Elon Musk for not censoring more Americans on X. 

"No one's regulating the N-word [on X]. No one's regulating the criticism. No one is regulating how people are treated," Champion complained.

That's when Scott Jennings, the sole conservative and entertaining commentator at CNN, interrupted. "How much government regulation of the First Amendment are you for?" he asked.

A hostile Champion replied, "Let me tell you something: If I came on here and just started calling you all kinds of names, do you think the bosses would let me continue to do that?... There is no moral compass on this thing called X."

Actually, as Jennings notes, X "is now the most ideologically balanced user platform of any platform."

Cari Champion and other liberal pundits at the desk scoffed at Jennings' point, asking, "Who is the source" of his data? Before he could answer, Champion said the source was not credible.

So, the question begs: Who is the source claiming that X has become a far more ideologically balanced platform since Musk's purchase in 2022? 

The answer: CNN, the channel on which Jennings and Champion were debating.

Yeah … 

Last week, CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten referenced Pew Research data that found, in 2024, 48 percent of X users identify as "Democrats" and 47 percent identify as Republicans." In 2022, before Musk took over, 65 percent of X users identified as "Democrats," while just 31 percent identified as Republicans.

Watch Jennings break the news to Champion below:

That, Scott Jennings, is why ABC News won't add a true conservative to "The View." 

Like Cari Champion, Sunny Hostin lives in a bubble of affirmation. They don't have the actual knowledge to participate in a robust conversation. And when they are forced to, as Champion was on Monday, they quickly become exposed as shallow and in over their heads.

Champion wasn't informed enough to discuss football while hosting "SportsCenter" at ESPN. If CNN thinks Champion will put in the time and effort to understand the nation's state, the network deserves the failing state from which it is currently suffering.

After the segment aired, Champion deactivated her X account.

Find her on Bluesky, soon.