"Being in this cauldron for three months, I saw the path. I dealt with donors. I dealt with a lot of people, and at various moments — and I'll get to the final reason in a minute — but they kept rushing me in. Even Coach Tuberville called me at one point and said, You can't wait much longer. You got to get in FEC files. You got to show you're legitimate."
"They told me the clearest and cleanest path to victory — I was running as a Republican in Alabama — was to run — and I'm just going to paraphrase the political operative's words — You need to run against woke Disney. And I could not do it. I could not burn down the place I had worked for the last 13 years that had given me an opportunity as a Birmingham talk show host."
Paul Finebaum considered running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alabama that will be vacated by Tommy Tuberville. He spent roughly three months engaging with donors, coaches and political operatives who urged him to file FEC paperwork quickly and demonstrate legitimacy. Operatives recommended a campaign narrative attacking Disney, the parent company of ESPN. Finebaum refused to adopt messaging that would denounce or “burn down” his longtime employer and declined to make statements he found uncomfortable. After weighing the path and pressure, Finebaum decided against entering the race and will remain an ESPN college football commentator.
Read at www.mediaite.com
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