Fox News host Jedidiah Bila on Sunday disagreed with her two male co-hosts about the NFL’s stance on social justice issues.
“There’s a new report out the NFL is planning for a big social justice display week one,” co-host Will Cain said, noting that players will be able to read “personalized poems” about their commitment to the movement.
“There are plans for players to wear the names of alleged victims of police brutality on helmets,” he continued.
Co-host Pete Hegseth suggested the NFL is “going to overdo it.”
“I think the NFL needs to tread very lightly here,” Cain opined. “I think they need to be very careful. There are certainly issues in this country that need to be addressed and players have a very high desire to address these issues. But if you tell the rest of the country that your country is racist and your police are hunting members of the African-American community down in the streets, you are going to turn off a massive portion of your audience.”
Bila had a different take: “I don’t know that that’s what they’re going to say and what their message is going to be. And my opinion has shifted on this just because I just want to say keep the politics out of sports. When I turn on a game, you know, I just want to enjoy it with my little snack and be at peace.”
“But the world has gotten so political,” she added. “You can’t watch comedy without it being political. You can’t watch an awards show without it being political. And now sports is political. So my opinion is let these people speak their minds.”
According to Bila, “the public — in large part — wants to hear what they have to say.”
Hegseth interrupted: “Do they? Do they? Because my line hasn’t shifted at all. I don’t care what my quarterback thinks.”
“I don’t want my athletes kneeling for the national anthem,” he insisted. “We don’t need two national anthems — a black national anthem. Should Jacob Blake’s — listen, this is a guy who sexually assaulted a woman, had a series of abuse with resisting arrest — should his name be celebrated on the helmets of NFL players? That’s what’s being discussed right now. Is that what I want to watch?”
“Regardless if you want to watch it,” Bila countered. “The truth is they feel that in this moment, they have to do more. Many of these athletes say I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines. Maybe they feel like just playing a game isn’t enough right now with what’s going on in the streets.”
Both of Bila’s co-host scoffed at her assertion.
“They may not care what we think about it,” she said. “Everyone else seems to be doing it so why not them?”
“Jedidiah, while I appreciate that conviction that you lay out,” Cain responded, “I would suggest that you have three different opportunities to turn off your audience. One is by simply injecting politics into your entertainment product. Maybe you’re right! Maybe that horse is out of the barn and we will always have politics now in every form of entertainment.”
“But the second and third layers are just as important,” he said. “Are you telling the truth about these issues? Are you getting to the facts or are you advocating? And then finally, are you only giving a one-sided political view that your audience must sign up for in order to watch your product? You are not only turning off an audience, you are telling an audience to leave.”
“It’s true,” Hegseth agreed.
“Yeah, but it’s their truth,” Bila observed. “Their talking about their truth.”
Hegseth wouldn’t let his co-host end the segment there.
“Their truth?” he exclaimed.
