Dan Le Batard is known among sports fans by now as a political lightning rod. He is far more outspoken about politics, race, and social issues than his counterparts in sports media. But after multiple massive political news cycles heading into a heated presidential campaign, Le Batard is doubling down on his commitment to speaking his mind about the state of the country—even if it means losing fans.
In a detailed conversation about his mindset following the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump and ongoing questions about whether Joe Biden will actually run on the Democratic ticket this fall, Le Batard explained why he plans to continue using his sports-first platform to discuss politics.
For Le Batard, navigating his post-ESPN career has, in many ways, led to this moment in which his frequent subject, Trump, has a chance to rerun the country.
“The thing about the risking of losing fans … is that it was a conscious choice,” Le Batard explained on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Thursday. “I understood some of the sacrifice we were making when we were making it. Some of it, not all of it. And one of the choices that everyone around here has heard me say is I wanted these microphones to be free right now.”
Le Batard said he understands why some of his audience may want the exact opposite this year and wishes sports and sports content could be purely a distraction from the mess of politics.
“But I just don’t want to sit out the next four or five months, no matter how it is that they end up going, because I can’t talk about stuff,” Le Batard said. “It’s the choice we made.”
Still, Le Batard knows he is not always the best voice for a given moment. He understands that talking about politics and social issues can be grating to some.
“The entirety of my career, one of the greatest difficulties I have had just being a communicator is that the way I deliver things can be strident, obnoxious, and arrogant,” Le Batard said. “It makes me unlikeable, and in the delivery of things that might otherwise be well thought get drowned out in people not liking how it is that I’m delivering whatever the message is.”
Le Batard said the audience should be prepared for more of the same for the rest of this election season, but he believes these issues are too important not to be addressed.
“I may be guilty over the next four months be even more guilty of this given the general fear in the climate,” Le Batard explained. “Because I do believe is that what is presently happening is that there are a lot of people in the American public who are a combination of scared and angry. And so that combination of things often leads to violence. And so things are about to escalate here.”
Le Batard closed by acknowledging fans who may tune out or grow tired of these conversations from now through November and beyond. But he also reminded fans of his personal perspective.
“There have been fans lost, but I would make the argument that standing for something in this particular climate has also made us gain fans and gain the strength of fans that we already have,” Le Batard said. “I hope you understand my objection that at 55 years old, I’m not going to spend all my time talking about Davante Adams. I’m just not going to do that.”
Many sports hosts either discuss political news out of some vague obligation or pressure they feel or simply believe they are the smartest person in the room and convince themselves that the audience wants to hear their takes on these topics. In this case, Le Batard is at least putting parameters around his own belief system when it comes to covering politics and social issues rather than just force-feeding it to his audience.
[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on YouTube]
