Curt Schilling wants to be 'bigger than Sean Hannity'

Curt Schilling.
(Image credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Curt Schilling is at a crossroads. The legendary Red Sox pitcher, who was fired as an ESPN commentator in 2016 after posting a transphobic meme, is now debating whether to run a longshot campaign against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) or make it big as a political commentator. "I want to be bigger than [Sean] Hannity and all the other guys," Schilling told Esquire. "Why would that not be a goal? I'm not afraid of stumbling. I don't like being wrong, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be."

If that is the goal, then Schilling, at least, is on the right track. After being fired from ESPN last year, he befriended Breitbart News' then-executive chair Stephen Bannon, earning himself a two-hour morning radio show with Breitbart called Whatever It Takes. What's more, some of the competition has been felled, leaving Schilling with a potential void to fill:

Schilling could be in a position to fill an opening for conservative media's new power pundit. Glenn Beck has become an independent, going so far as to compare Trump to Hitler. Tomi Lahren, the 24-year-old once seen as Beck's rising star, is without a network after he fired her for questioning opposition to abortion. Milo Yiannopoulos lost a $250,000 book deal with Simon & Schuster and resigned from Breitbart after he was caught on tape defending pedophilia. Fox News icon Bill O'Reilly was forced out of Fox News for allegedly sexually harassing colleagues. [Esquire]

Breitbart's editor in chief, Alex Marlow, said the company wants "to make sure Schilling is a big presence."

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"We have someone in Curt Schilling who is a hero to a lot of people and is willing to fight for their values," Marlow said. "We're excited and we're going to amplify him however we can."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.