In Friday’s edition, former NBC Sports sideline reporter Michele Tafoya called out ESPN’s Mina Kimes over her praise of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz for “modeling a different kind of masculinity.”
“I am sincerely embarrassed for @minakimes,” Tafoya wrote on X. “And how pathetic that her kind of ‘masculinity’ means more than the candidate’s record, which is abysmal. Sincerely, A Minnesotan.”
Commentator Michele Tafoya looks on during Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022.Getty Images
Kimes responded with a two-second video of LeBron James pretending to be afraid during a Lakers game.
“There’s something, to me, really important about seeing someone like this modeling a different kind of masculinity,” the ESPN NFL analyst said on “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” though she stopped short of endorsing Walz. “We’re kind of seeing it in the NFL with the Kelces, and Dan Campbell — this idea that ‘big, tough football guy’ isn’t separate from showing emotion and empathy.
Mina Kimes on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast.Pablo Torre Finds Out/YouTube
“Yes, they’re calling him ‘coach’ and what not, but in the same breath, they are emphasizing, ‘this man, the year he was a football coach, also ran the gay-straight alliance at the high school.’ That’s really powerful in a way that goes far beyond politics and electability, which is the discussion we’re having. There are very few models like that in American public life.”
That Tafoya would disagree with Kimes’ take isn’t surprising — she co-chaired the campaign of Army veteran Kendall Qualls, who ran as a Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota opposite Walz.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in August 2024.AP
She became one of the most visible figures to trade talking ball for the political gauntlet.
