Here’s a surprise from the wokest of worlds: sports journalism. There was actually a Republican in the ranks – albeit no longer.
Longtime NBC reporter Michele Tafoya, best known for sideline reporting during NFL games, including at Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night, is leaving the network. She is now serving as campaign co-chairwoman for Kendall Qualls, a Republican candidate in Minnesota’s gubernatorial race.
“This is all my decision. Everyone at NBC will back me up on that. They have always told me I can stay as long as I want. For me, I have to make my move while I’ve still got the energy to do other things and have an impact. I don’t want to wait,” she told the sports website The Athletic.
“I got to a point in my life where I wanted to try other things, and there are some things that are really important to me. This is not to say that sports isn’t an important field, that my job isn’t an important job. But in my position, I was not as free to be as vocal about world events that I’m concerned about.”
Newsmax reported that Tafoya generated a ruckus when she appeared on two episodes of “The View” last fall and shared some of her beliefs.
In one episode she questioned the effectiveness of the vaccines. In another instance, she sparred with Whoopi Goldberg over Critical Race Theory. When Goldberg said white people needed to “step up” and support blacks’ rights, Tafoya replied, “They’ve been doing that since the Civil War.”
In another segment that discussed militant anthem-kneeler Colin Kapernick, Tafoya said the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback was out of a job because he wasn’t good enough. That prompted left-wing “View” regular Sunny Hostin, who is black, to lecture Tafoya, who has a 28-year career in sports broadcasting, including more than a decade covering the NFL, that she was wrong. According to Hostin, Kaepernick has not returned to the NFL because he “took a stand” – by kneeling.
Speculation about her future grew when Tafoya missed three “Sunday Night Football” games after that. But NBC said it was a planned absence.
As she told The Athletic, “It’s not because I was told to shut up. I want to be very clear about that. But look, if you’re on a show like ‘Sunday Night Football,’ which is the No. 1 show in prime time for 11 straight years, unprecedented, the last thing they want to do is invite controversy.”
In her new role, Tafoya is expected to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando at the end of February, adding to a roster of speakers that includes former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Tafoya told The Athletic that she has been asked “multiple times” about running for office in Minnesota. “But I just don’t know yet,” she added. “Not at the moment. I will say not at the moment. A lot will depend on what transpires here over the next year.”
She also told The Athletic that she described herself as a libertarian. She said she believes in smaller government and cutting spending, but she also is pro-choice.
“I think there are a lot of choices that should be left up to individuals and not instituted or not forced upon us by a government that we elect, unless we elect them because we want them to make that choice for us,” she said. “I just don’t think government is about making choices for us in our personal lives. I really don’t.”
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way to go. ESPN is elfin cancer. America.
Attractive woman enters politics.
…of course she’s Republican