TNT’s Ernie Johnson revisits his viral Trump speech two years later

Following the election of President Donald Trump, Inside the NBA and NCAA Tournament studio host Ernie Johnson mixed sports and politics in a poignant take on the 2016 election.

While admitting he was no fan of Trump’s heated rhetoric and ultimately voted for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Johnson said he was giving the newly elected president a chance, hopeful "there will be a different between President Trump and the campaigning Trump.”

During a recent media event in New York City, Johnson told the Inquirer he didn’t set out to “break the internet” that night, but the Emmy-winning host admitted that people still stop and ask him about his monologue more than two years later.

“I can go two months without hearing about it, and suddenly I’m asked about it in the airport,” Johnson said. “I had the choice to just shrug my shoulders or say how I actually felt, so that’s what I did. ...I was just expressing my personal faith. I don’t want to offer political opinions, but I made it clear I’m not a Trump guy.”

So two years later, does Johnson still have the same hope and optimism about Trump and his administration?

“I hate all the divisiveness that has occurred due to his presidency,” Johnson said. “But yes, I still have hope. I still pray for the president."

Johnson is working the NCAA Tournament as a studio host for CBS and Turner Sports alongside his Inside the NBA co-host and close friend, Charles Barkley. The former Sixers star also offered an optimistic take about Trump following the election (despite having also supported Kasich), but since then he hasn’t kept his disdain for the president a secret.

“[Trump’s] actions, the ways he’s treated minorities, has emboldened these other racists to be more bold, plain and simple,” Barkley said during an April 2018 interview on CNN’s The Axe Files with David Axelrod. “I’ve never been more angry and disgusted at this situation than I am now. There’s turmoil every single day — the tweeting, the hiring and firing.”

Barkley also took a jab at Trump earlier this year on Inside the NBA, during a discussion about the NBA’s All-Star voting.

During his first two seasons as a broadcaster, CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo delighted fans with his mix of enthusiasm and clairvoyance, quickly becoming one of the NFL’s top announcers. He was also the stand-out star of last season’s AFC championship game and overshadowed nearly everyone ahead of the Super Bowl.

Now, he reportedly wants to be paid like it.

Romo still has one year remaining on his three-year deal with CBS, but according to Michael McCarthy at the Sporting News, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback is looking for a juicy contract extension worth upwards of $10 million a year.

If CBS agrees, it would make Romo the highest-paid sports analyst in television history, eclipsing the $7.5 to $8 million a year FOX paid to steal John Madden away from CBS back in 1994. It would also top the salary of another former Cowboys quarterback, Troy Aikman, who is reportedly paid about $7.5 million a year by FOX.

Romo has repeatedly praised the team at CBS, including The NFL on CBS producer Jim Rikhoff, who helped the former quarterback make the often-difficult transition from the field to the booth (just ask Jason Witten). Plus, CBS has the right to match any offer Romo receives from another network, should he become a broadcasting free agent.

“I feel this is exactly where I should be,” Romo told reporters about CBS ahead of the Super Bowl.

Bryce Harper’s spring training debut with the Phillies drew huge ratings on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and as we inch closer to opening day, two new local specials will focus on Philadelphia’s newest superstar

Signing Harper, a new documentary about the 188 days it took the coveted free agent to end up with the Phillies, debuts on NBC Sports Philadelphia Tuesday at 8 p.m.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m., NBC10 will air Feels Like Bold Times, a live show from Citizens Bank Park featuring an all-access look inside Harper’s first game with the Phillies during spring training. The show will be anchored by John Clark, Rosemary Connors, and Brandon Hudson.

Also worth checking out is the Inquirer’s new Phillies-centric podcast Extra Innings, hosted by beat writers Matt Breen, Scott Lauber and Bob Brookover. You can find Extra Innings on all your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Soundcloud and Google Play.