In the week leading up to the election, ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro received a large Pinocchio. He keeps saying that his organization is not political, but his nose keeps growing longer. “We’re not a political organization,” Pitaro said in the past, but the network website is currently running a six-part series on – you guessed it – politics.
ESPN’s introduction of the political series claims it shows “how professional sports owners in America are contributing to political campaigns, why they are spending millions in space, and what that financial power means if athletes in all sports continue to adopt their own activism.” What it really does is support far left politics in sport while shaming owners who financially support Republicans.
One of the main themes of the series is that the owners of professional sports teams are mostly Republicans who donate to GOP candidates. Sports owners gave nearly $ 44 million and $ 34 million to Republicans in the last three federal election cycles, according to research by ESPN, in collaboration with FiveThirtyEight.
Only the women’s NBA was different; Their owners gave 51.7 percent of their contributions to Democrats and 42.3 percent went to Republicans. Two-thirds of the GOP donations came from Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Co-owner of Atlanta Dream.
The series’ focus on ideological donors deserves a big red flag for the flagellation of the Christian Conservative DeVos family, who own the Orlando Magic of the NBA. Rich DeVos is “a generous donor to the country’s emerging religious right-wing movement ” Starting with a gift of $ 25,000 in 1975 to the Christian Freedom Foundation. He was also president of the Council for National Policy, an organization founded by “fundamentalist Christian leader Tim LaHaye to bring together prominent right-wing voices”.
The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation has given “Substantial donations to anti-gay organizations like Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. Dan DeVos’ sister-in-law is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was a lightning rod in the cultural wars that raged during the Trump administration.”
When it comes to political support for the Democrats and their concerns, ESPN writer Kevin Arnovitz does not use words like “left” or “anti”. Or talk about bringing left voices together. Instead, Democratic co-owners like Laura Rickets are the Chicago Cubs “enthusiastic supporters“by pro-choice candidates for the Federal Office and the founder of LPAC, who campaigns for LGBTQ women.
Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry is also not Republican. He is the epitome of the personal giver of the NBA, whose combination of general political orientation and social inclinations make him a resident of the elite circles of the Democratic Party. “ He also hosted dinner for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama at his home.
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corporation, stated money “Right-wing Republican Randy Weber called President Barack Obama a “socialist dictator” and “Commander-in-Chief ‘” in 2014.
However, the political slurs against President Trump made by LeBron James, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and many other athletes are never mentioned in the biased ESPN series. That’s because ESPN is home to Democrats and Republican haters.
ESPN’s Baxter Holmes is focused on dark money and, as an unnamed Republican owner told confidants, he was concerned about over-regulation by a President Joe Biden and he wanted to donate privately to President Donald Trump. It happens regularly among the owners, says Holmes, and it can protect them from public setbacks.
US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has been described as a “staunch critic” of the unspecified “dark money” for super-PACs.
The ESPN series is also committed to big tech. “On the other side of the aisle,“Holmes says“Facebook has faced boycotts from advertisers and civil rights groups because of its stance on political ads and its unwillingness to remove sites that spread misinformation.” This statement is undone by hidden footage from Facebook employees who have admitted to deliberately censoring Trump supporters.
Athletes, especially NBA players, who actively participate in the Biden voting in professional sports venues are not considered anti-Trumpers. They are constantly calling for “change” and it is no secret that they mean a change in the occupancy of the White House. Portland Trail Blazer security guard CJ McCollum is cited as an opponent of Trump, but there are no pro-Trump athletes in the unbalanced series.
A story by Ramona Shelburne and Malika Andrews swallows James’ allegations of voter suppression, hook and leash:
“For example, it’s good to be able to talk about the repression of black voters and how to combat it by opening sports arenas and concert venues as polling stations. Or how More Than a Vote has recruited around 40,000 new volunteers to help out.”
It’s also powerful, they write, when athletes bring in guest speakers such as former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who they claim lost the 2018 election due to the repression of Republican voters.
Two Michigan Republican activists, Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, are charged with election crimes, but no mention of Democrats involved in election fraud.
Perhaps President Pitaro has taken full advantage of his Pinocchio nose by now. Perhaps ESPN will stop insulting people and embarrassing itself by claiming it is not a political organization. Or a politically biased left organization.
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