Megyn Kelly slammed “woke” ESPN hosts Thursday for “holding back tears” when condemning the overturning of Roe v. Wade — but holding their tongues about trans athletes participating in women’s sports.
The conservative pundit and guest Sage Steele — who was booted from ESPN for making comments about being forced to get the COVID vaccine — ripped into the sports network for consistently discussing liberal talking points not related to sports, including George Flyod’s death and the decision to end federal protections on abortion rights.
The one current issue ESPN appears to stay “silent” on, the pair argued, directly intersects with its beat: Transgender female athletes allegedly crushing their competition.
“Sports Media, I think, has a special obligation,” Kelly said.
“My daughter is 12. If she shows up at a soccer game and there is a boy on the other team, we’re out of there. There’s zero chance I will let her play. I don’t care who I offend … There’s no way — and I recommend other parents do the same thing because your kid actually could get hurt.”
Steele agreed with Kelly, adding that she was “disgusted” to see her ex-colleagues decline to speak on the issue.
The former sports anchor alleged that several of her past male coworkers oppose trans athletes playing against their chosen gender and wouldn’t allow their own daughters to play against “boys.”
“This isn’t even controversial. This is stupid that it’s even a topic with trans-biological men trying to play sports with women,” Steele said.
Steele insinuated that ESPN only allows its anchors to discuss their views if they are liberal-leaning, leading her to sue the network for firing her over conservative comments she made on a non-affiliated podcast on her day off.
She pointed to a June 2022 segment in which ESPN anchor Malika Andrews tearfully reported that “women’s reproductive rights [were] being taken away.”
“She’s holding back tears. Where’s her tearful diatribe for my daughter and the daughters of America right now who are getting hurt when playing against biological boys? Why are they crying about abortion on the set of ESPN?”
“The fact that they’re all silent disgusts me, especially because of how vocal they were about, let’s say the overturning of Roe v. Wade and women’s rights. I mean, hello, there were people on our airwaves talking about that,” Steele said.
“And sports! Abortion is not sports!” Kelly giddily interjected.
The two argued that allowing trans female athletes to participate on women’s teams and in women’s leagues would not only degrade the sporting world but would set back the women’s rights movement.
They slammed trans woman Anne Andres, who set an all-time record at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship Sunday after lifting 440 pounds more than the second-place winner.
Andres defended her title, claiming that her intense training schedule earned her the gold rather than a biological advantage.
Kelly and Steele giggled while watching Andres’ videos while repeatedly misgendering her and making fun of the “unflattering” angle that the video depicted her in.
“You gotta laugh because it’s comical,” Kelly said.
