Former ESPN host Samantha Ponder receives 'vicious' backlash to Charlie Kirk tribute

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former ESPN host Samantha Ponder recently revealed she received “vicious” messages from strangers after mourning Charlie Kirk’s death, as per Breitbart.

Speaking with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Ponder said a simple post about Kirk’s family sparked severe backlash. She revealed that social media algorithms are behind all the negative comments.

Samantha Ponder faces backlash after reposting Charlie Kirk family video

During her appearance on Fox News Channel’s 'Saturday in America,' Ponder told Kayleigh McEnany that she had simply reposted a video of Charlie Kirk with his family on social media.

She said she never imagined that such a harmless post would spark backlash, flood her with negative comments, and even cause her to lose followers.

“The strange thing is I didn’t really say much. I reposted a video of his family just because I thought it was so relatable to see because he’s a dad. You forget when you watch people on TV sometimes that this is just a dad who is a husband and has these little kids,” she said. “So, I reposted a video of their family on vacation and I immediately lost thousands of followers – and who cares? This is not about me."

Ponder shared that receiving hate or negative reactions is nothing new for her, explaining that anyone who has worked in television knows it comes with the territory.

“But it was more about seeing what’s going on in our country right now and I got just vicious messages, which any of us who have worked in TV get all the time. I’m used to that. But it was in response to something that I thought we could all agree on – man, it’s sad when someone’s murdered. I thought that was just something the general public could agree on.” 

Samantha Ponder says social media algorithms fuel division and outrage

Samantha Ponder shared that the issue isn’t just about the vulnerable state of the country, but also about the powerful role of social media algorithms.

Pointing to these platforms, she said they play a key role in amplifying content and driving extreme reactions. She explained that social media feeds people specific narratives, which continuously gaslight and fuel outrage.

Speaking about algorithms — which vary from person to person — Ponder contrasted what she saw about Charlie Kirk and his family versus the horrendous messages she received after sharing a post about them, noting there was a huge difference.

“I think it said a lot about where we are as a country, but I also think it says a lot about the algorithms that we’re dealing with,” she said. “I saw so many people message me, saying ‘He was a racist. He was a bigot.’ So, I thought, ‘I didn’t know that about him. Let me do a little research. And you know what I found? I found highly edited videos of short clips where you could make anyone sound terrible all put together.’”   

Ponder added that she “almost doesn’t blame the people” because the audience is only seeing snippets rather than full, unedited debates with Kirk.

“I almost don’t blame the people who felt that way because they are being lied to. They’re being tricked. They’re not sitting and watching a long debate with Charlie Kirk. They’re seeing what their algorithm gives them. I had people saying, ‘I didn’t see anybody mourning his death,’” she shared.

She concluded that there are two different Americas being portrayed: one shaped by social media algorithms and the other shaped by the truth.

“Those people weren’t seeing it all. So, that tells us we’re seeing two different Americas and a lot of it is because of the social media algorithm that we are all just chronically online addicted to, which is a real problem,” she said.