The Caitlin Clark discourse reached ludicrous speed on Monday as Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee turned the discussions about the WNBA into conversations about them.
Both men dealt with the blowback differently. McAfee apologized for his choice of words, if not his intent. Meanwhile, Smith doubled down in a way that best be described as Trumpian.
Later in the evening, McAfee continued to face pushback on his comments from an unlikely source: Fox News. However, given that it was Sean Hannity taking former Indianapolis Colts punter to task while ignoring Smith’s contribution to the day’s controversy, certainly raised some eyebrows.
Unnoted WNBA enthusiast Hannity did a segment on his Monday program about the controversy swirling around Clark, who has been on the receiving end of some “tough love” from several WNBA opponents in recent games. He began by noting Smith’s comments that the treatment may stem from “jealousy” over the attention Clark has been getting, before shifting into McAfee’s comments, in which he referred to Clark as “one white b****…who is a superstar.”
Sean Hannity on Pat McAfee's comments on Caitlin Clark: "He's still a jackass and a buffoon and a horrible host. McAfee's biggest problem — I'll tell you what it is — his ego cannot handle living in the shadows of the far more popular, way more talented Stephen A. Smith." pic.twitter.com/ikmiDJrVJa
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 4, 2024
“As Stephen A. said, a rising tide will lift all boats. Meanwhile, Pat McAfee, well, he’s facing a backlash, rightly, today, for using a descriptor that he used to defend Caitlin Clark,” said Hannity. “He’s like the Jim Cramer of sports.
“Anyway, McAfee has since apologized for his comments on today’s show. He’s still a jackass, a buffoon, and a horrible host. McAfee’s biggest problem… his ego can not handle living in the shadows of the far more popular, way more talented Stephen A. Smith.”
It’s not unheard of for Hannity to comment on big sports stories. However, his angle seems oddly specific here. And we certainly won’t say we understand (or care to understand) the inner workings of Hannity’s show, but it’s impossible not to consider that he and Smith are on incredibly good terms.
In fact, Hannity has said that he and Smith have been “friends for a long time.” The two have also appeared on each other’s programs and seem to have a very genial relationship.
While Smith and McAfee repeatedly said they root for one another, there have been rumors of potential animosity between them, especially as Smith publically jockeys to take back the mantle of highest-paid talent at ESPN.
So, we’re not saying that Hannity was doing Smith a solid by taking McAfee down a peg on his program Monday night, we’re just saying that it was notable to see such a strong takedown on such a public forum from someone with such a close relationship to one person in this scenario.
Given that McAfee has had no problem reading between the lines to call out powerful people at ESPN in the past, we’ll have to see if he puts two together on Tuesday.
[Fox News]
