If you want proof the “woke” era at ESPN is over, all you had to do was watch President Donald Trump’s inaugural Freedom 250 Patriot Games on Tuesday.
Here was Pat McAfee, one of ESPN’s biggest stars, personally greeting Trump on the tarmac in Cleveland before traveling to the event at nearby Spire Academy. Disney chief executive officer Josh D’Amaro and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro also joined McAfee and Trump at the national competition for high school athletes, which was streamed on the ESPN app.
D’Amaro was photographed standing side by side with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. To top it off, ESPN’s Laura Rutledge interviewed Trump. After getting in a plug for ESPN’s first Super Bowl on Feb. 14, 2027, she asked Trump which NFL teams he’s keeping his eye on this season. Trump mentioned the Giants, Patriots, and Rams, “That was great analysis by you, Mr. President,” she noted.
The happy, smiling scene between ESPN/Disney power players and the second Trump administration was a far cry from some of the media giant’s previous tense interactions with “The Donald.”
Earlier this year, the president and Melania Trump publicly called for ABC to sack late night comic Jimmy Kimmel after he joked the First Lady had “the glow of an expectant widow.” Wrote Trump on Truth Social: “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
