ESPN’s Colin Cowherd ripped southern culture once again Monday, doubling down on his portrayal of the South as an “eye-for-an-eye” and “us-vs.-them” culture in his response to a statement made by Mike Huckabee over the weekend.
Last week, Cowherd blamed the South and it’s “more divided,” “settle the score” culture in part for the death of Kevin Ward Jr., who was tragically killed when he was struck by Tony Stewart’s car on Saturday Aug 9. Saying NASCAR’s “unique” culture was particularly southern and thus was founded on the “eye-for-an-eye” worldview that promoted the death penalty and division, Cowherd said the sport encouraged the dangerous displays of “machismo” exhibited by both Stewart and Ward that led to the young driver’s death.
Over the weekend, former Arkansas Governor and Fox host Mike Huckabee responded to Cowherd, saying he should “shut his pie hole” until he really came to understand the South (video above). Huckabee also pointed out that neither Stewart nor Ward are actually from the south, saying, “This guy thinks the death of Kevin Ward is because of a southern culture? Okay, since Ward is a native of New York and Stewart’s from Indiana, I guess I’m not getting the geographically connection.”
Monday, an incensed Cowherd responded to Huckabee by doubling down on his claims and thanking the “former governor” for just proving his point about the bias and “us-vs.-them” mentality of southerners.
After playing a clip of Huckabee's response, Cowherd laid into the former governor. Citing Huckabee’s use of the term “Yankee” to describe him, Cowherd suggested that he was representative of exactly the “more divided” culture he referenced last week.
Cowherd’s comments follow a trend of ESPN hosts deliberately steering their shows toward social commentary. Just last Friday, ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard devoted a segment to discussing white America’s “war on black people” in Ferguson, while seemingly every week we're imparted with another rant on homophobia and sexism in the NFL by Keith Olbermann. It will be interesting to see how longer ESPN's audience will keep tuning in with its hosts seemingly going out of their way to offend them.
Audio at ESPN’s The Herd (begins around 11:20 AM EST mark). Video via Fox News.
Editor's note: This article has been modified.
