Political commentator Benj Irby weighed in on the WNBA salary controversy Monday night, telling Newsmax that the "money's not there" to justify raising the salaries of players who have threatened to sit out games if their demands are not met.
WNBA players have been angling for larger pay packages like those their NBA counterparts command, arguing that viewership and game attendance are at an all-time high in part due to the popularity of players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
"We love women and women are wonderful and women are great, but the honest part of it is, look, the NBA makes a lot more money than the WNBA does, and it is what it is," Irby said on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE." "I mean, you don't see male models who make a tenth of what female models make going out there, Zoolander and all the other … male models out there protesting 'We have to make the same money.' It just doesn't work like that.
"In this industry, it's a sports industry, sports are more tailored toward men," he continued. "More men watch sports, and when women watch sports they want to see men play instead of women. It is what it is. They should be glad they're here. They've been subsidized for a million years. I think these girls are heavy on their own press and social media. And this one, that one, 'Oh, yeah, you go girl, you do this, you do that.' But no, the money's not there."
Irby also commented on the Saturday arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student who is set to be deported after the Trump administration revoked his green card for organizing anti-Israel protests and unrest on Columbia's campus.
"We all know that Democrats love to be revolutionaries," Irby said. "This is their fantasy. Poor little rich kids want to find something to complain about, so 'This is our thing and we feel sad.' Look, if he got kicked out by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] it means he wasn't supposed to be here. I'm fully against illegal immigration. If [President Donald] Trump is kicking him out, I'm sure there's a good reason. I'm all for it.
A federal judge on Monday blocked the removal of Khalil and set a hearing for Wednesday to consider Khalil's challenge to his detention. Trump has vowed that Khalil's arrest will be the first of many.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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