Speaker 1: I want to get started in the world the politics
Speaker 1: because with the recent news of Jackie Robinson and his
Speaker 1: legacy being temporarily scrubbed from the Department of Defence's website
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, you know I went off about that right.
Speaker 1: The move was part of President Donald Trump's efforts to
Speaker 1: purge references to diversity, equity, and inclusion through a quote
Speaker 1: digital content refresh end quote.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: While Robinson's story doesn't make any reference to DEI, his
Speaker 1: military legacy was among several stories that were scrubbed from
Speaker 1: federal websites in recent days.
Speaker 2: Other stories were moved from the.
Speaker 1: Site include the Navajo Cold Talkers and Ira Hayes, one
Speaker 1: of six Marines who raised the American flag at ewo Jima.
Speaker 1: In response to the outcry, the Defense Department issued the
Speaker 1: following statement, quote Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson,
Speaker 1: as well as the Navajo Cold Talkers, the tuskegeeermen, the
Speaker 1: Marines at ewo Jima, and so many others. We salute
Speaker 1: them for their strong and in many cases, heroic service
Speaker 1: to our country full stop. The updated statement said, quote,
Speaker 1: we do not view or highlight them through the prism
Speaker 1: of immutable characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We
Speaker 1: do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to
Speaker 1: the war fighting mission, like every other American who has
Speaker 1: worn the uniform. And Robinson's story was restored to the
Speaker 1: website later on that day with its original url. ESPN
Speaker 1: reached out to find out if the removal of Robinson's
Speaker 1: story was deliberate or mistaken, but the Department of Defense
Speaker 1: declined to answer. So that's what led me to say
Speaker 1: this on first Take yesterday.
Speaker 2: Take a look.
Speaker 1: There's a few things this president administration is not being
Speaker 1: honest about, and we.
Speaker 2: Have to call it like we see it.
Speaker 1: You know, there's this effort, this thisconcerted effort to eradicate
Speaker 1: DEI as we all know. And one of the things
Speaker 1: that you've seen me Moley talking about politics, this subject
Speaker 1: intertwines politics and sports. So if we want to go there,
Speaker 1: let's go there. You know, they want to eradicate DEI
Speaker 1: programs and what have you. And what I've said to folks,
Speaker 1: particularly on the side of the GOP, it's very very simple.
Speaker 1: It's not so much that you want to eradicate DEI diversity,
Speaker 1: equity and inclusion programs. I'll let somebody else argue on
Speaker 1: behalf of that. What I like to focus on is
Speaker 1: how dare you try to ignore the reason for its
Speaker 1: existence in the first place? Similar to the civil rights
Speaker 1: legislation in nineteen sixty four, similar to things like affirmative action,
Speaker 1: similar the things like the Rooney Rule and the National.
Speaker 2: Football League, etc.
Speaker 1: How dare you try to get away with highlighting why
Speaker 1: it needed to exist in the first place. It was
Speaker 1: because of the iniquities of folks in the United States
Speaker 1: of America, primarily the white power structure that exists. Concerted
Speaker 1: effort is being made to scrub history.
Speaker 2: We saw Governor DeSantis.
Speaker 1: In Florida allude to this during his campaign, where he
Speaker 1: literally tried to bring up there were good components about slavery.
Speaker 1: This is some utterly ridiculous stuff. Nobody is calling out
Speaker 1: the President Donald Trump, I will the biggest beneficiaries of
Speaker 1: affirmative action and DEI. Some would argue, all white women.
Speaker 1: How come we don't mention that? Why is it always
Speaker 1: attached to black people? This is the kind of stuff
Speaker 1: that we're asking ourselves, and on a day like today,
Speaker 1: it gives us more credence to ask that question because
Speaker 1: of what happened with Jackie Robinson, who served in our military,
Speaker 1: drafted served our country, and for hours upon hours in
Speaker 1: the day, this stuff was scrubbed, and we're supposed to
Speaker 1: be We're supposed to believe that's accidental. President Trump happy
Speaker 1: to sit down with you to have that conversation, Sir,
Speaker 1: I'd love for you to try to defend it. Vice
Speaker 1: President of Vance, you too, Pete haig Seth, you too.
Speaker 2: Stephen A.
Speaker 1: Smith is calling you out on national television. I'd love
Speaker 1: for you to sit down with the cameras rolling and
Speaker 1: try to defend this.
Speaker 2: It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: You know, it's very very important to make the point
Speaker 1: that I'm about to make. First things First, I want
Speaker 1: to announce to everybody in the world that's watching this
Speaker 1: show right now that for me, although I understand that
Speaker 1: when we say de EI, we're talking about diversity, equity
Speaker 1: and inclusion, it's two very very important things that I
Speaker 1: want folks to understand. Anybody that's been hired at courtesy
Speaker 1: of DEI programs, that means black folks, that means Hispanic folks,
Speaker 1: that means white women.
Speaker 2: In no way am I.
Speaker 1: Trying to say that that automatically indicates you're not qualified.
Speaker 1: And what folks in America, particularly the white power structure
Speaker 1: that has exist in this nation for centuries, needs to
Speaker 1: comprehend is that when I say that, the reason it's
Speaker 1: important to mention that is because the white male power structure,
Speaker 1: to be specific, is the one is the structure that
Speaker 1: intentionally subjugated folks and held them back. There's plenty of
Speaker 1: people who should have been hired. There's are plenty of
Speaker 1: people that missed out on opportunities. There are plenty of
Speaker 1: people who were denied what their capabilities, say they earned
Speaker 1: and could obviously achieve, that were denied the opportunity to
Speaker 1: do so because somebody in a position of power, usually
Speaker 1: albeit not always, but usually white males, made a decision
Speaker 1: hold them back. And that's something that's been documented throughout history,
Speaker 1: and it seems to be a concerted effort right now
Speaker 1: to make sure that that is ignored. But before I
Speaker 1: go any further in saying that and articulating and reiterating
Speaker 1: the point that I don't want anybody thinking that when
Speaker 1: I mentioned DEI that means you're automatically unqualified for something,
Speaker 1: and I hope I made that clear. I want to
Speaker 1: let you know that when I'm talking about DEI, I'm
Speaker 1: not talking about diversity and equity and inclusion. That's not
Speaker 1: the DEI I'm focused on. You know what DEI stands
Speaker 1: for with me, didn't earn it. Say it again, didn't
Speaker 1: earn it. You see, when I bring up a name
Speaker 1: like a Pete haig Seth for the Department of Defense
Speaker 1: for the United States of America, I want to apologize
Speaker 1: to him, as family members, anybody close to him, friends
Speaker 1: on Fox News or within the community, the Megan Kelly's
Speaker 1: of the world, and others. I am in no way
Speaker 1: saying he will do a bad job. I am in
Speaker 1: no way implying that there's no way on earth that
Speaker 1: he couldn't do a better.
Speaker 2: Job than his predecessor, Lloyd Austin. I don't know.
Speaker 1: What I'm trying to say is that in our system
Speaker 1: of governance of government that hovers over us as American
Speaker 1: citizens in this country, when we talk about content of character,
Speaker 1: resume qualifications, etc. There's usually a terrain you have to
Speaker 1: maneuver through in order to get to certain lofty positions.
Speaker 1: He did not have to do that. You cannot say
Speaker 1: that about him. I understand he served our country that
Speaker 1: he's a military man. I understand that when he was
Speaker 1: selected by President Trump to be our defense secretary, that
Speaker 1: a bunch of military people were supportive of them, along
Speaker 1: with colleagues on Fox News, along with God's like a
Speaker 1: Dan vonn Gino and others. I get that. I'm not
Speaker 1: pushing back on that. I swear sincerely, and I.
Speaker 2: Hope he does it.
Speaker 1: He's our defense secretary. I hope he does a good
Speaker 1: job on behalf of the United States of America. If
Speaker 1: I saw him, I shake his hand and wish him luck.
Speaker 1: I'm simply saying, you can't say that when you will
Speaker 1: host a weekend host, by the way, on Fox News,
Speaker 1: that that all of a sudden qualifies you to be
Speaker 1: the defense secretary of the United States of America looking
Speaker 1: over three and a half million people that have to
Speaker 1: answer to you.
Speaker 2: That's ridiculous. That's all, nothing more.
Speaker 1: I'm not bringing up his past transgressions and all the
Speaker 1: stuff they tried to bring in doing the Senate confirmation hearing.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing that to that man. I'm only talking
Speaker 1: about his resume, nothing more, nothing more. But it's important
Speaker 1: to understand that anybody who's in a position that they
Speaker 1: did not earn whose connections or whose favoritism towards and
Speaker 1: by the person in charge to put them in such
Speaker 1: a lofty position that makes you a DEI person didn't
Speaker 1: earn it, didn't earn it, and we're not going to
Speaker 1: get around that. And so when you see this concerted
Speaker 1: effort being made to scrub records and to not allude
Speaker 1: to race, and to not allude to sex and gender
Speaker 1: and all of this other stuff, what you're really trying
Speaker 1: to say is that you want people to forget certain
Speaker 1: elements of American history. You want the youngsters on to
Speaker 1: come up to not know about our racist past, about
Speaker 1: our prejudicial past. It wasn't just black people you held back.
Speaker 1: Was it just Native Americans you took the country from.
Speaker 1: It was also women you're held back. When did they
Speaker 1: get a right to vote? How long was it before
Speaker 1: they stopped being someated to a minimal and less less
Speaker 1: than role. It ain't just black folks, It ain't just minorities.
Speaker 1: It's also women. You did it to them too. And
Speaker 1: the only reason I'm asking that question is because I'm
Speaker 1: saying the sum on the right. When y'all gonna step
Speaker 1: up and handle your business, I thought you wanted to
Speaker 1: ingratiate yourself with people other than white folks in America.
Speaker 1: Aren't you bragging about the fact that Trump got more
Speaker 1: black votes than he did in twenty twenty, more Hispanic
Speaker 1: votes than he did in twenty twenty, more younger votes
Speaker 1: than he did in twenty twenty. Well, if all of
Speaker 1: those things are true, ladies and gentlemen, especially when I'm
Speaker 1: speaking directly to folks on the right, why would you
Speaker 1: risk alienating segments of our population moving forward beyond twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six into twenty twenty eight for another presidential election,
Speaker 1: and beyond why would you compromise the progress that you
Speaker 1: made by living up to stigmas an assertion that of
Speaker 1: the negative variety that folks on the left have been
Speaker 1: saying about y'all for ages.
Speaker 2: Don't you want to move past that?
Speaker 1: Don't you want for folks to stop looking at you
Speaker 1: questioning your racial sensitivity. Don't you want them to look
Speaker 1: at you and say, hey, they're treating us like they
Speaker 1: treat themselves, that they're judging us fairly, that they're embracing
Speaker 1: history and accepting the accountability and responsibility for it as
Speaker 1: opposed to running from it, and trying to act like
Speaker 1: it never happened.
Speaker 2: Don't you want a segment of.
Speaker 1: Our population to be able to say that I would
Speaker 1: think you would. I would think you would. So that's
Speaker 1: all I wanted to say about that. Now I want
Speaker 1: to move on to some degree from this subject to
Speaker 1: get a bit personal, because I want to get to
Speaker 1: others who weighed in on a subject, namely Robert Griffin
Speaker 1: IID aka RG three, my former colleague at ESPN. By
Speaker 1: the way, shortly after my comments on first Take a
Speaker 1: couple of days ago, RG three posted this on X
Speaker 1: quote sports shows on TV should be about sports, not
Speaker 1: about politics.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: Then more than six hours later, he expanded his thoughts
Speaker 1: with this statement quote, this tweet is not about Jackie Robinson.
Speaker 1: His significance can never and should never be erased. Breaking
Speaker 1: the color barrier in baseball in itself is not political.
Speaker 1: Jesse Owens winning four gold medals in itself was not political.
Speaker 2: Jack Johnson becoming the.
Speaker 1: First black boxing heavyweight champion in itself was not political.
Speaker 1: They all had political ramifications. They all challenged the status
Speaker 1: quo of racial barriers to fair play, race relations and
Speaker 1: civil rights that should always be acknowledged and never forgotten.
Speaker 1: They shouldn't be used as an excuse to push political
Speaker 1: agendas on sports shows or national television to an audience
Speaker 1: there to consume in sports content. End quote RG three, Respectfully,
Speaker 1: my brother, you sound ignorant. You sound utterly clueless. First
Speaker 1: of all, when Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in nineteen forty seven,
Speaker 1: are you trying to say that race wasn't politicized in
Speaker 1: nineteen forty seven or beforehand? Like branch Ricky for the Dodgers?
Speaker 1: Did it specifically choose him because he knew he would
Speaker 1: need his temperament as a former military man who exercised
Speaker 1: discipline as opposed to reacting violently to the racial venom
Speaker 1: that was thrown in his direction. You're trying to tell
Speaker 1: me politics had nothing to do with that. You're trying
Speaker 1: to tell me when jack Johnson was fighting early in
Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, you're trying to tell me that had
Speaker 1: nothing to do with politics.
Speaker 2: Just race. This is what you're trying to tell me.
Speaker 1: That makes absolutely, positively no sense whatsoever. Okay, we all
Speaker 1: know that our race may stand alone and as its
Speaker 1: prevalent issue, politics has been used historically to exercise the
Speaker 1: muscle necessary to implement racially insensitive policies of not racist policies.
Speaker 2: That is a fact. I'm giving you facts.
Speaker 1: There is no black person alive who would deny that,
Speaker 1: and there's no white person who could justifiably deny it.
Speaker 2: Not to get personal, you said this after first day
Speaker 2: r G three.
Speaker 1: At some point in time, my brother, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to show your hand and stop tap dancing like the
Speaker 1: late great Gregory Hans got rest his soul and then
Speaker 1: Gregory hains case. I only mean literally tap dancing figuratively speaking.
Speaker 1: You got to stop dancing around issues.
Speaker 2: Brother.
Speaker 1: Then you got something to say said if you got
Speaker 1: a problem with Stephen Ain said by name, what's the problem,
Speaker 1: Because I certainly don't have any problem with you. Let
Speaker 1: me tell you RG three an unknown secret that you
Speaker 1: may not have realized, because you see, you're come across
Speaker 1: as somebody that's bitter about being gone from ESPN. You
Speaker 1: ain't being slick. See, we saw the reports when you
Speaker 1: got to let go by ESPN and how ticked off
Speaker 1: you were. We saw people in your camp, probably you
Speaker 1: and my estimation, but I don't.
Speaker 2: Know this for sure.
Speaker 1: Who alluded to the adjacent mccordy's of the world being
Speaker 1: on ESPN and the aftermath.
Speaker 2: Of you being let go.
Speaker 1: So, since you have this pension, this proclivity to be
Speaker 1: passive aggressive, because that's how you roll, let me show
Speaker 1: you how to be direct.
Speaker 2: RG three.
Speaker 1: People at ESPN didn't like you, bro, They didn't like you.
Speaker 1: You know the names. I set names as implural And
Speaker 1: do you know why I can say that to you,
Speaker 1: RG three, because I'm not one of those people. I
Speaker 1: actually loved you on First Take. Every time you came
Speaker 1: on First Take, you did a damn good job. Are
Speaker 1: you ready for this? RG three, don't faint. The bosses
Speaker 1: would tell you I wanted them to keep you. But
Speaker 1: just because I'm the executive producer of First Take doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that I get to keep you on a shelf.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that I get to determine your salary.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that I get to determine whether or
Speaker 1: not they're willing to pay your salary. And a damn
Speaker 1: show doesn't mean that I have anything to do with
Speaker 1: Monday Night NFL Countdown, which you were a part of.
Speaker 1: Now I'm not gonna get into who was happy about it,
Speaker 1: and then who wasn't. I'm not gonna get into whether
Speaker 1: or not they were happy about it at all. That's
Speaker 1: inside in house business. That's none of anybody's business.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying to you is start with the passive
Speaker 2: aggressive stuff. That's weak, bro, that's weak. That's exactly the
Speaker 2: reason why a whole.
Speaker 1: Bunch of cats at ESPN had a problem with you
Speaker 1: because of that passive aggressive stuff. You know good and well,
Speaker 1: that first take has never been afraid to tackle issues ever. Ever,
Speaker 1: when Skip Bayless was there, we weren't afraid. When Max
Speaker 1: Kellerman was there, we weren't afraid since Max Kellerman departed.
Speaker 1: Whether it's swag Oo, it's a Ryan Clark to Doude,
Speaker 1: you're very familiar with. Whether it's a Jeff Saturday, it's
Speaker 1: a mad Dog Russo, it's a kimber Lee Martin, it's
Speaker 1: a Mena Comes, it's a dan Orlovsky. It's a Cam Newton.
Speaker 1: It's Bart Scott, it's Damian Woody, it's Kendrick Perkins. It's
Speaker 1: Jay Williams. It's Monica McNutt. It's Andrea Cutter, it's Chaneo
Speaker 1: Gooma Kay.
Speaker 2: The list goes on and on and on.
Speaker 1: All my my colleagues, all fantastic, all phenomenal.
Speaker 2: Let me not forget L.
Speaker 1: Duncan, who does a great job doing the six o'clock
Speaker 1: sports to the We don't run from anything? RG three,
Speaker 1: How do I know what I'm talking about? Let me
Speaker 1: have Paul funbombed to that. Okay, let me have Joe
Speaker 1: Funt bought of that. Let me tell you why we
Speaker 1: run from nothing and how I have factual evidence?
Speaker 2: RG three? Do you know I have footage of you
Speaker 2: tackling issues? You know good? And then well, we tackle anything.
Speaker 1: It's football, is basketball, it's politics, it's social issues, it's
Speaker 1: social commentary, Colin Kaepernick, George Floyd, list goes on and on,
Speaker 1: Filando Castill.
Speaker 2: We've tackled issues on a plathora of occasions. Why are
Speaker 2: you acting like you.
Speaker 1: Don't know because your feelings hurt that you're gone? Where
Speaker 1: were you when I got fired?
Speaker 2: RG? Three? You the only one that was let go.
Speaker 2: I can give you a laundry list of over three.
Speaker 1: Hundred people that have been let go from ESPN since
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. You ever heard of downsizing? You ever heard
Speaker 1: of how life can be sometimes in corporate America? Because
Speaker 1: you got stockholders and shareholders, and you have projections that
Speaker 1: need to be met, and the changing of the industry
Speaker 1: and the changing of the time. Sometimes this stuff happens,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. I'm bringing this up about RG three
Speaker 1: because RG three is emblematic of something that happens a
Speaker 1: lot with people who depart from ESPN. You depart from ESPN,
Speaker 1: and you got a problem with the industry, So you
Speaker 1: got to talk about shows or people on shows that
Speaker 1: you know are going to draw an automatic connection from
Speaker 1: the words that come out of your mouth. So you've
Speaker 1: got to infiltrate the proceedings by incriminating them as if
Speaker 1: they did something they did not do. RG three, Bruh,
Speaker 1: I didn't let you go. If I had my druthers,
Speaker 1: you would have remained on first take. It's not my
Speaker 1: fault that you're not on college football game day. And
Speaker 1: by the way, Pat McAfee is dead instead of you.
Speaker 1: That brother is doing a hell of a job. It's undeniable.
Speaker 1: Pat McAfee is made for college football game day. I
Speaker 1: mean him get people to kick them.
Speaker 2: Damn.
Speaker 1: Field goals is the funniest stuff on television. Sometimes it's hilarious,
Speaker 1: and he sells it like no other. He's doing a
Speaker 1: hell of a job. He's a star.
Speaker 2: Period.
Speaker 1: You look at OURC and Swago and all of these cats,
Speaker 1: that name speaks for themselves and what they bring to
Speaker 1: the table. I can't speak for everybody else, but you
Speaker 1: weren't on college football game Day. Evidently you weren't wanted
Speaker 1: anymore on Monday Night countdown.
Speaker 2: I wanted you on first tape.
Speaker 1: But what happens with a lot of people that leave
Speaker 1: ESPN is they get caught up in Oh, let me
Speaker 1: call out somebody that works on ESPN when your real
Speaker 1: problem is with management. Guess what, at some point in
Speaker 1: time in our careers, who doesn't have problems with management?
Speaker 2: Name a name, pick a person.
Speaker 1: There's almost no one, at least almost no one in
Speaker 1: corporate America that doesn't have a problem with management. At
Speaker 1: least they admitted though, instead of coming across week with
Speaker 1: their passive, aggressive tendencies trying to point the fingers where
Speaker 1: it don't belong. I'm being nice, bro, I really am.
Speaker 1: I've never done anything but show respect and love to
Speaker 1: RG three. I think RG three is a talent. I
Speaker 1: think you did a damn good job when you was
Speaker 1: on first take. I would have loved to have you on.
Speaker 1: And these reports about oh I picked Jason mccordy over
Speaker 1: RG three. First of all, I didn't pick anybody. Secondly,
Speaker 1: do you know I had meant Jason mccrdy once in
Speaker 1: my life before he came on first day. Come on, bro,
Speaker 1: I understand that you're a bit salty about being gone,
Speaker 1: but come up with a better excuse to get at us,
Speaker 1: will you.
Speaker 2: You can do better, You could do better.