Free speech in as few as 140 characters

ESPN host Jemele Hill has come under fire after labeling President Donald J. Trump a “white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/other white supremacists” on Twitter — and though some may say she went too far, there’s no denying that this administration has emboldened the alt-right.

The truth is many of Trump’s closest friends, advisers and confidants are supporters of the altright movement and his assertion that there was blame to be had on “both sides” in the wake of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., was enthusiastically applauded by neo-Nazis, the KKK and race-baiters.

But does that mean the president is a card-carrying white supremacist as Hill claims? For me, the jury is out on that one.

And even if I didn’t agree with her analysis, I respect her right to voice her opinion.

As a woman of color, it doesn’t bring me great comfort that Jeff Sessions, who was vehemently decried by civil rights activists and Coretta Scott King, is our attorney general. It made my skin crawl — as I’m sure it did many in the immigrant community — when he delivered Trump’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals decree that could disrupt the lives of 800,000 young immigrants.

And though conservatives, including White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, say Hill’s comments are a “fireable offense,” I don’t agree.

Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick tweeted, “We are with you @ jemelehill,” and the National Association of Black Journalists said they support her “First Amendment Rights on all matters of discussion, within and outside the world of sports, as they do not impinge on her duties as a host and commentator.”

In the end, I think one has to ask the question: By calling Trump a white supremacist, did she call him a bad name? I don’t think the avowed white supremacists who are reveling in their new-found renaissance under Trump would see it that way.