ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has taken a strong stance against the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, making it clear that he believes “men do not belong in women’s sports.” His comments came in response to a social media question and were further detailed in an interview on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.”
Of course not. Ridiculous question https://t.co/SpwZ07zewv
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 6, 2024
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Herbstreit expressed his frustration, stating, “I’m done giving any s—s at all about any of it. It’s almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a view that’s a little more traditional, or I’m a Christian guy, it’s like there is a different set of rules for that viewpoint.”
He added, “It’s hard to just turn the other cheek time after time after time. So, yeah, I didn’t really care, and I don’t care at all. Which is a good thing, I think it’s good and healthy to get to that place compared to, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t want to get canceled. I don’t want to get people upset.’ I don’t give a s—.”
Herbstreit also admitted he has struggled with his temper when discussing controversial topics and acknowledged that he has been more outspoken recently. “If that fuse gets lit, I let it go, and then I’ll explode and say something. That I have to be careful of.”
Despite his blunt remarks, Herbstreit reported no backlash from ESPN. He mentioned his practice of avoiding comments on his social media posts to steer clear of negativity, but his direct response to the question about transgender athletes garnered a surprising amount of positive feedback.
He noted, “I didn’t dwell on it, I didn’t give a long answer, that was it. I didn’t realize it would be – way more positive than negative. I’m sure people were upset about it. I think it’s kind of a no-brainer. I don’t have a daughter; I have four sons. If I had a daughter, I would probably be way more outspoken about this discussion on this topic.”
Herbstreit reflected on the current climate of public discourse, stating, “Lee Corso used to give a speech, and one of the things he would say within that speech was, ‘Don’t ask me about race, religion or politics, or don’t talk publicly about race, religion or politics,’ and now I think that’s all anybody talks about is race religion and politics.”
He concluded by suggesting that he may become more vocal on such issues in the future. “I try to stay on the sidelines for a lot of that, but you can only take so much until you want to start to speak up a little bit and actually say what you think. When I retire or get in the position that you’re in, I’ll be able to say a lot more.”
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