OutKick’s Charly Arnolt says people have become increasingly weary of speaking their minds, which has shifted in the media landscape and has impacted free speech in America.
“We got here because people are afraid to say anything,” she said. “It’s not that they do not feel that’s how things are and how things should be; I just think people are afraid of being labeled transphobic, or hateful, or bigoted because that’s what happens.”
Arnolt appeared on a segment with Clay Travis recently. The pair spoke about Sage Steele, the former ESPN anchor who announced recently that she was leaving the network to have more freedom to exercise her First Amendment rights.
ESPN suspended Steele in October 2021 for comments made about former President Barack Obama and the network’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In April 2022, she sued ESPN and its parent company, the Walt Disney Company, for breach of contract and violation of her right to free speech.
According to The New York Post, Arnolt left ESPN, feeling “stifled”. On Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Apr. 20, she accused ESPN of contradicting their political policy regarding transgender athletes.
“Even when I started speaking up about it, as much as many people would come to me quietly and say, ‘Oh my gosh, thank you so much for saying this,’ there were all the other people that publicly told me, ‘I can’t believe you’re saying this.’
Charly Arnolt reiterated that she has no problem with people in the LGBTQ community but added that everybody should have the same rights.
“It’s the same playbook page that the left always uses,” she added. “They try to come at you immediately with you’re hateful, you’re transphobic, and then you suddenly get scared to speak up, and then that forces you not to take a hard stand.”
