Curt Schilling feels as though he is being targeted by the media over the latest controversy he has managed to drum up.
Schilling shared an anti-transgender meme on his Facebook page Monday, and it ended up going viral on Tuesday. He also expressed his opinion on the subject of transgender people using public restrooms. You can read his thoughts and see the meme here.
In an interview with WEEI in Boston Wednesday morning, Schilling repeatedly said he had no idea why there was so much backlash over the post.
“This, I don’t wanna say snuck up on me, but it did,” he said, as transcribed by Boston.com’s Eric Levenson. “My comment was as innocuous and non-aggressive as anything anybody can say. I’m still trying to figure out how all this happened. I was kind of blindsided by this one. When I got the call [from ESPN], I was like, ‘I don’t get this, how does this become that.'”
Schilling, who was quick to point out that he employed transgender people at his failed company 38 Studios, stuck by what he wrote about men who identify as women not being permitted in women’s restrooms.
“I stated a fact,” he said. “Men’s bathrooms were designed for people who stand up, and women’s weren’t. It’s nothing more than that.”
Schilling also defended his stance in a blog post on his personal website bashing the media.
We’re used to Schilling sharing his controversial opinions. The guy clearly loves attention. The most surprising aspect of his most recent remarks is that it seems like the former Boston Red Sox pitcher is daring ESPN to fire him.
When Schilling caught backlash for saying this about Hillary Clinton last month, he said he would not be surprised if ESPN fired him. Keep in mind that he was suspended over the summer for sending a racist tweet about Muslims.
Even if Schilling thought he was stating a “fact,” he had to have known this is exactly the type of attention ESPN wants him to avoid bringing to himself.
