When Colin Cowherd left ESPN for Fox Sports and iHeartRadio in 2015, there was an expectation that he would delve more deeply into politics. At the time, ESPN had mostly avoided political discourse on air.
Instead, the opposite happened.
Several commentators at ESPN used their platforms to spread political messaging following Donald Trump's candidacy and eventual presidency. Meanwhile, Cowherd largely avoided politics on his new show.
To this day, Cowherd is one of the few major sports commentators whose political leanings and views on Trump remain largely unknown.
Cowherd sat down with OutKick this week for a wide-ranging interview. Among the topics, we discussed why he chose to stick to sports when much of the industry did not.
"Well, I always said I love Bill Maher, but I don't want to hear his football picks. I think Ben Shapiro is smart. I don't want to hear his picks either," Cowherd said. "My broadcast corporate executives pay me to talk sports."
"I've always thought I was sort of a radical centrist. Sort of left on social programs, kind of center-right on fiscal policy. That's how I viewed myself," he explained.
"Like a lot of my friends, I think there have been times since COVID when there's been Democrat overreach in policy and certain cultural shifts I don't necessarily agree with. There are times on the right where I don't think every time Trump gets on a plane and goes overseas I'd rather he not make a deal for himself and his family. I don't love that."
"I think I'm critical of both, and I defend both."
Specifically, Cowherd said, "Conservatives and Trump do a better job on our borders. I think their messaging is very clear on the economy and crime."
"There are other things where I would move left," he cautioned.
When asked about ESPN's shift toward politics and then away from it, Cowherd pointed to changes in leadership.
"When [John] Skipper left, the first thing you noticed was ESPN started talking way more NFL, Bobby. They stopped talking politics."
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"I thought the company got kind of rudderless for a while," he explained. "It was like, guys, your audience wants football. They want sports. That's what they want."
As for ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, Cowherd said he has helped steer the company back toward serving its audience.
"I think Jimmy Pitaro has done a really good job. I think he's really bright, and I think they now talk about the right sports. They've got the right personalities. I think Fox's leadership and ESPN's leadership right now are very strong."
Check out our full interview with Colin Cowherd on OutKick.com and YouTube.
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