CNN’s Abby Phillip called out Republican outrage over “attacks” against Caitlin Clark as “seemingly” being fueled by the simple fact that Clark is white.

On Saturday’s Table for Five, Phillip and her panelists discussed Republican lawmakers sending a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, in which they demanded protection for Clark from possible “racially motivated” attacks.

Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) shared the letter on X, which was signed by a total of 11 Republican lawmakers.

“I led my colleagues in demanding accountability from @WNBA Commissioner Engelbert after MULTIPLE attacks against Caitlin Clark, a player who is transforming women’s sports and inspiring a new generation of young girls to participate in athletics,” he wrote. “I’m putting the league on notice that if it keeps letting the violent targeting slide, they could find themselves facing a DOJ and EEOC crackdown for violating federal civil rights law.”

Sports broadcaster Cari Champion dismissed the lawmakers and accused them of being ignorant of the game, calling the “bullying” on the court a “rite of passage:”

I think it’s really, really disrespectful in so many different ways because this is from people who one haven’t watched sports, obviously, have never watched women’s basketball. They’re probably more so a fan of Caitlin Clark than the actual sport itself, or a fan of the Indiana Fever.

What has been happening to Caitlin has been happening since the inception of the WNBA. These women play tough. They play hard. It’s sports. To suggest that it is intentional or that people are being racist towards her leaves out a long history of women who supported this league and started this league who were black.

It’s very disrespectful to them, the women who are the foundation of the league; 70% of the people in the league are LGBTQIA and Black, and so they literally are sitting here thinking, well, why now, because we’ve been playing the game that we’ve been playing, are people demanding that we be investigated for doing what we’re supposed to do?

Can you imagine going to work every single day, trying to do your job, but fear that you’re going to be attacked and get death threats?

Phillip called Clark a “superstar” soaking up a lot of attention, but questioned whether the attention the athlete is getting from Republicans and the government is because of her skin color.

“The problem with Caitlin Clark is that she is a superstar. She’s great at what she does. However, the attention that she’s getting from Republicans and from government seems to be exclusively because she is white,” she said.

“That’s the only reason,” Champion agreed.

Watch above via CNN.

The post Abby Phillip Rips Caitlin Clark Outrage From Right: ‘Seemingly Exclusively Because She Is White’ first appeared on Mediaite.