Rich Eisen is a very popular television and radio host in the sports world. He has anchored NFL Network's Sunday pre-game show for 20 years. His radio show, The Rich Eisen Show, garners millions of views across Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms. (Sports fans of a certain age will also remember him as an outstanding SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, back when ESPN wasn't a dumpster fire. He had some of the best one-liners in that show's history.)
Rich Eisen is also Jewish.
On Dec. 5, Eisen posted his reaction to the Congressional testimony of Ivy League presidents who failed to condemn antisemitism and calls for Jewish genocide on college campuses.
What in the absolute F. https://t.co/pP3MtvBjaj
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) December 6, 2023
It was the same reaction so many of us had. It also sparked calls (including from this writer) for Eisen to use his enormous platform to call attention to this horrible behavior and use his influence to demand the NFL call attention to it as well.
Clearly, the testimony, his reaction to it, and the responses from his Twitter followers had an impact on him. The very next day, Eisen took several minutes of his show -- normally reserved for sports, pop culture, and humor -- to speak to the atrocity of antisemitism in America today. Watch:
Today, @richeisen took time out from our usual show fare to respond to the unacceptable responses from @penn @harvard @MIT presidents at a US House hearing about anti-semitism on campus. pic.twitter.com/YUwltJhy9W
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) December 6, 2023
What if I said nothing? I don't want my kids to look at me one day and say, 'Dad, you had a platform, you had a microphone in front of your face, why didn't you say something?'
'What if I said nothing?' If that thought does not echo 1930s Germany, we don't know what will.
Eisen continued:
...the simple question of whether they consider the phrase or the statement of genocide against all Jews to be a violation of codes of conduct on the campuses or considered a violation of the code of conduct in relation to bullying or harassment and their answers not being unequivocally, 'Yeah, that violates it," and just equivocating with a bunch of word salad and nonsense.
Now, you could sit here and you could say, 'Well, it's legalese because they have to leave themselves some wiggle room' ... that's nonsense.
Recommended
The full seven minutes is something everyone should hear ... especially the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT.
Bravo @richeisen and his use of the @RichEisenShow to blast the president of my alma mater and the presidents of @Penn and @MIT. Rich is usually pretty hard on my Browns, but all is forgiven because moral clarity is crucial at this moment. President Gay should already have… https://t.co/kkK7LsGn6C
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) December 7, 2023
'Moral clarity is crucial at this moment.' Truer words were never spoken.
This is the awakening that a lot more people need to experience. He is right all calls for ending any group is wrong https://t.co/Abj5JYRj72
— wes oldham (@wesnpikwik) December 7, 2023
A lot more awakenings are needed. But it's important to recognize when they happen and congratulate the people experiencing them.
Fantastic, passionate, on-point from @RichEisen. This shouldn't be that difficult. The fact that it is for presidents of these 'elite' institutions of higher learning tells you all you need to know about those institutions. They are cesspools of anti-Semitic hate. Bottom line. https://t.co/97Zd7SpxoO
— Ryan Schuiling (@RyanSchuiling) December 6, 2023
We have officially crossed the line from “the hypocrisy and double standards are really galling” to “this is friggin’ scary”…. https://t.co/SdkZBbeLaH
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) December 7, 2023
Well said sir. Thank you for the clear moral stance. This isn't political, nuanced or difficult. It's so simple.
— Shawn Steen (@ShawnSteen15) December 6, 2023
It SHOULDN'T be political, nuanced, or difficult. The fact that Ivy League presidents are making it so says everything about them, and none of it good.
“What the hell is the matter with these people?” is the right reaction.
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) December 7, 2023
Thank you @richeisen for speaking up. I would like to see and hear other prominent sports figures with large platforms do the same.
Harvard, Penn, and MIT used to be the gold standard. Today, they’re 🗑️. https://t.co/UAKE5Cuqcv
More and more people are getting comfortable calling out this horrid behavior. Love to see it 👏🏼 https://t.co/0hZvhYsQYh
— Andrew Fulk (@fulknA) December 7, 2023
The more people who do speak up, the more people who will speak up. And it's great when prominent people like Eisen lead the way. Eisen has been a liberal his whole career. The last time we can recall him using his platform for non-sports commentary was during the George Floyd riots. But we think he's beginning to realize that liberalism and leftism are not the same thing at all, a fact many traditional liberals are waking up to.
We'll let Eisen add some final comments in his own words:
I cannot believe the answers I heard. It is frightening to see those answered from people in positions of leadership and higher education. Are you kidding me? The answer is, 'Yes!' ... I never thought in a million years that I would never want to send my kids to these schools. Forget that ...
... What the hell is the matter with those people?
Many, many things are wrong with them, Mr. Eisen. But thank you for speaking out against them. And we hope you will encourage more of your peers in the sports world, and the NFL in particular, to do the same.
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