With a charge of racism Wednesday, ESPN TV's First Take talk program unofficially launched its third season of Trump Derangement Syndrome. All three members of the leftist-heavy program took potshots at President Donald Trump after he fed fast food to the national championship Clemson football team in Monday's White House reception. First Take has been battering Trump (see here, here and here) ever since he became president two years ago.
Molly Qerim, the facilitator on First Take, alleged it's racist to serve fast food to a mostly African-American football team:
"I don't know. I guess I took it very differently when I saw him giving the football players, predominantly black sport, and fast food. My thought went a very different place."
That unsaid place was widely acknowledged to mean racism on the president's behalf. Qerim's charge of racism drew a strong rebuke from author and radio host Clay Travis on his Outkick The Coverage blog:
"Today on ESPN’s First Take the host of the show, Molly Qerim, decided to drop the wokest of woke takes about the Clemson football team visiting the White House and dining on fast food there. The reason why Donald Trump bought thousands of dollars in fast food for the Clemson football team?
"Racism!
"Really."
The R bomb safely dropped, Qerim quickly shifted to a tweet by Reggie Bush, an 11-year NFL veteran and disgraced former Heisman Trophy winner in 2005, who lashed out at the White House celebration menu:
Qerim's First Take colleagues Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman also added new entries to their substantial body of work on Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Smith said the fast food dinner was classless. "What I'm saying to you is that at the end of the day these are elite athletes that are national champions, that put forth an absolutely shocking and stellar performance and this is how you greet them? It's disgraceful. It was classless. It was wrong to do. He can do better than that. And it's unfortunate that the leader of the free world, the president of the United States, would choose and the comments that he made, that he would choose to conduct himself this way. But are we surprised? Absolutely not."
Kellerman was more concerned about the government shutdown and Russian collusion investigation than what was on the White House serving tables Monday. There's been a lot of disturbing news about President Trump recently, and "this is distraction," he said.
Hamburgers, fries and pizza are not the worst things in the world, Kellerman said. It's not elitist, it plays to Trump's base and a lot of Clemson players had fun at the White House. "And there are reasons to be upset right now, and this ain't it. And so I would -- I would warn against being -- anyone taking their eye off the ball about what's going on in the world over some fast food at the white house to a football team."
"BurgerGate", as it was referred to by Sports Illustrated's Dan Gartland, took another twist Wednesday when Ayesha Curry, the wife of Golden State Warriors' guard Steph Curry, said she would serve Clemson a "real feast" at one of the barbecue restaurants she owns. Her offer was reported by Des Bieler in The Washington Post, the newspaper that printed a torrent of insults aimed at Trump over his hosting of the NCAA champs.
