(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) ESPN faced backlash following its Sugar Bowl broadcast Thursday after cutting out the national anthem and moment of silence commemorating the 14 killed on Bourbon Street in the New Orleans terror attack that postponed the highly anticipated college football game.
Viewers were left fuming on social media after the Disney-owned network failed to air both important moments in honor of Americans murdered by the ISIS-inspired 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar’s vehicular mow-down.
Here was the #SugarBowl National Anthem that @Espn didn’t think you needed to hear after a terrorist attack in our city. pic.twitter.com/jqHrAnYAEu
— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) January 3, 2025
ESPN did broadcast the national anthem or moment of silence because of the “awkwardness” of cutting short a commercial break, a source told the New York Post.
The network went to a commercial break right before the moment of silence and after its “SportsCenter” pre-age interview with Tim Tebow, the source explained, so ESPN returning to the middle of the anthem was “making it hard to cut it,” according to the outlet.
Despite axing both patriotic moments, ESPN aired a pre-recorded message from President Joe Biden to open its broadcast.
ESPN followed the Democrat’s video by showing a montage of football fans, police and the city of New Orleans as play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough spoke about the terror attack.
“Wow @espn didn’t air the national anthem or the moment of silence for the New Orleans terror attack victims per @burackbobby and they continue to label the terror attack a ‘truck attack’ on screen,” OutKick host Clay Travis wrote on X.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had one scathing word for ESPN’s omission of both commemorative moments, writing “pitiful” in a repost of Travis’s criticism.
pitiful https://t.co/bjy1pkZJ7E
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 3, 2025
This was a travesty that @espn skipped one of the most moving and nationally significant moments of the @SugarBowlNola. The anthem and moment of silence at the Dome was beautiful. https://t.co/QYxQXjCRym pic.twitter.com/vgoriBxiLW
— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) January 3, 2025
Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo called ESPN’s apparent snub a “travesty” and called the omitted moments at the Caesars Superdome “moving” and “beautiful.”
Shocker. Disney-owed ESPN doesn't represent most Americans, especially football fans. https://t.co/xNqbCx871q
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) January 3, 2025
”Shocker. Disney-owed ESPN doesn’t represent most Americans, especially football fans,” Outkick personality Riley Gaines added.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
