ESPN continues to prove to the sports world that it is a left-of-center network that puts a premium on liberal social justice causes. After all, how else can one explain an ESPN sportswriter denouncing on national television the presence of the American flag at the Tokyo Olympics?
William Rhoden, a longtime columnist for The New York Times who is now a writer-at-large with ESPN’s “The Undefeated,” went on “CBS This Morning” on Monday to say he felt differently about covering the Olympics in 2021, as opposed to previous years.
The difference being that he’s now put off by Old Glory, which represents a nation of white supremacists.
“I love the opening ceremonies, march of countries. Then I realized, you know, man, particularly after these last four years, I had it wrong. Nationalism is not good. We’ve seen the rise of white nationalism. Nationalism is not good,” Rhoden said. “And also, this whole idea — I keep thinking back on the Capitol riots, and I saw a lot of, you know, U.S. flags.”
WATCH: Legendary sportswriter Bill Rhoden (@wcrhoden) discusses #TeamUSA‘s rocky start at the #Olympics and why he thinks the games should’ve been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/Lf4LCjXj8r
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) July 26, 2021
There seems to be little doubt that Rhoden sees America as an irredeemably racist nation.
“So now when I see the flag and the flag raised, what — what, what America am I living in? You know, are the ones that don’t think, you know, we should be here? The ones that think that we should shut things down?” he said. “The one — so I just think that this is a very — these Olympics should be a time of soul searching and winning sometimes is antithetic to soul searching.”
To recap, the liberal sportswriter ties the flag to the alleged insurrection. Or, in other words, the people looking to overthrow America were proudly waving a banner that represents America. Racist people. Trump supporters. Republicans.
Not all that surprising when considering a member of the NY Times editorial board found it disturbing to see pickup trucks on Long Island displaying American flags.
Asked about the slow start from Team USA, Rhoden said, “Well, I think we should be humbled.
“This whole last year in this country, it’s been about entitlement and privilege,” he proclaimed, getting plenty of agreement from the CBS hosts. “And nobody epitomizes that more than basketball.
The U.S. men’s basketball team got demolished 76-83 by France on Sunday, its first loss in 17 years, which prompted Rhoden to surmise, “Across the board, we just need some humility.”
All of which is consistent with his latest article, where he advocates for the U.S. to stop sending NBA players to the Olympics and, instead, work to establish standing national men’s and women’s teams.
“There’s no longer a need to instinctively flex and endeavor to obliterate the competition,” he wrote.
Rhoden, who likened the competing athletes to “hostages,” was asked if the Tokyo Olympics should have been canceled because of the pandemic.
“Yeah,” he responded. “Ideally — of course they should have canceled the Olympics.”
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:
This is the most brain dead leftist rant I’ve heard in a while. @WCRhoden epitomizes the ideological communist left & the tactic of conflating all issues into one racist, antiAmerican rant. Combined with the clueless @CBSThisMorning hosts, the entire video reeks of useful idiots.
— Jonathan T Gilliam (@JGilliam_SEAL) July 26, 2021
@WCRhoden It was very disappointing to hear you say what you did about the flag. What happened at the capital was wrong and terrible but people need to quit blaming everything else on that day. Our country was in a lot better shape the last 4 years then the last 6 months!
— Ben Fiscus (@fiscus_noles) July 26, 2021
I think of all the amazing things this country has done for the world when I see the stars and stripes. United States is a great country. Hence why all the immigrants want to be here.
— Chris (@ArlieH66) July 26, 2021
WOW! What a disappointing commentary and a sad indication of how people in our country no longer appreciate it and all the sacrifices that good people made so that we could enjoy it. Kind of embarrassing! Seems like CBS is just fine with it too!
— bb77 (@May77august) July 27, 2021
Maybe Mr Rhoden should put the broad brush down
— pirate89 (@RobertJ89490753) July 26, 2021
I wonder if he finds any offense in the communist flag of China? My bet is he’s perfectly okay with that one but yeah tell us again how America is so awful. 🙄
— Chris Larsen (@Bugsycruiser) July 26, 2021
The only rise in “white nationalism” is the coverage that they receive. Not to mention they are the outspoken micro-minority of the right – akin to the Antifa types though Antifa’s sympathizers are protected by media and are no better than the far rights extremists!
— Clint (@cbp83) July 26, 2021
This should be flagged as misinformation!
And yes us Veterans even served for ungrateful people too!— Crossroad South (@crossroad_south) July 26, 2021
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!