White House Via Huckabee-Sanders Statement Stepped Over Free Speech Line

W/H Smugness on Full Display and Reflects on the Nation

(Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders)

Trump Wants an Apology and Hill Fired

(Statement by Huckabee-Sanders Makes it Official)

Story and background here re: ESPN host Jemele Hill tweet: “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/other white supremacists.” 

Then this follow-up on Sanders and also from here.

I note key word is that Jemele Hill tweeted her blast at Trump – which was her personal view, right Mr. Trump? So, WTF: Trump tweets 24/7 and everyone says “Hey, that’s who he is.” Should we fire him? (Yes, actually we should – but that’s a post for later).

Then Bingo – the very next day from the White House press briefing podium, press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders said: “Jemele Hill's statements were outrageous and constituted a fireable offense.”

Whoa – wait a fricking minute Ms. Sanders. You could have just rejected Hill's characterization or, in the Trump tweet style, launched a fusillade of insults and personal attacks, but to call on ESPN to fire here – over the line, baby – bigly.

Not only that but Sanders’ “fireable offense” wording went further in her capacity as a government official speaking from the White House – that went way over the legal and constitutional lines.

1.  ESPN didn't fire Hill, but they did criticize her comments as unrepresentative of ESPN's positions. 

2.  Hill tweeted that, while her opinion reflected her private beliefs, she regretted them because they cast the network in an unfair light.

Note: Jemele Hill is 199% correct in her response. She is NOT a traditional reporter in any sense, rather she was expressing a personal opinion on Twitter (not from the anchor booth and not unlike Trump does with his official tweet – we assume since he is always the president and words from him matter). Sanders retort is more of a retaliation for her opinion while asking ESPN to fire her.

Clearly Ms. Hill is well within her First Amendment rights of free speech and further that right prohibits government interference with any free expression.

If Jemele Hill violated EPSN policy, well, that’s a different story and totally private employer-employee matter and always is has been for decades and most employees know that, too.

However, with this White House saying in essence to a private employer “fire an employee who expressed an opinion we dislike” well, that’s pretty low and quite frankly illegal by all standards. After Trump's failure to unequivocally condemn the Charlottesville neo-Nazis and the KKK, et al, a number of executives resigned from his business councils. But many didn't resign because, as reported by Andrew Ross Sorkin in The New York Times, they were “too scared to say anything publicly that could make them or their company a target of Mr. Trump's wrath.”

My summary: Big bro “The Donald” and his mouthpiece Sanders I wonder who writes her comments for when she spouts officially from the podium in the White House? 

Just what we need: A public too afraid to speak out, criticize the W/H or President worried about insults or worse from our president? Ouch ... that cuts deep.

Sanders makes firing of Jemele Hill flap a public matter when it is not a public matter and now Sanders has rightly so received an ethics complaint.

The Trump-run White House is full of bullies and that is apparent with each statement and new appointment… but more so, for the mental health of the entire country – and that part is pretty ugly and awful.

Thanks for stopping by.