Conservative Inc Defends Caitlin Clark’s Wokeness

The Time Magazine feature on Caitlin Clark has many Americans coming to grips with Caitlin Clark being another woke liberal. After years of astroturfing women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark emerged as a marketable figure to boost American interest in the sport. As a result of corporate marketing, identity politics, and NIL, the WNBA went from no one watching to few people watching. So many people in Conservative Inc championed Caitlin Clark as a cultural victory. Among them are Clay Travis, Jason Whitlock, and Charlie Kirk. As part of the astroturfing campaign, Time Magazine awarded Caitlin Clark Athlete of the Year over figures like Shohei Ohtani (stop Asian hate, am I right?). And during the interview Caitlin Clark goes woke.

Clark is cognizant of the racial underpinnings of her stardom. “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” says Clark. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

Caitlin Clark’s promotion of the White Privilege narrative was seen as her going woke. However, Clark’s being White and from Iowa are the only reasons that Conservative Inc. thought she was not a liberal. They ignored all the blatant warning signs.

Clark says she really does stay off social media during the season and wasn’t aware that talk about the eye poke, for example, was percolating until she was asked about it. “It’s something I’m trying to navigate,” she says. “I’m trying to find a balance while being a rookie.” But she hears the calls imploring her to step up for her colleagues, particularly in a league known for its outspokenness on social-justice issues. “I’m probably the most popular player in the league at the moment, and somebody a lot of people turn to to have a voice on this type of stuff,” says Clark. “I hope we can do a better job as a league of protecting our players and putting better resources around them to make it a safer environment. And obviously, there’s only so much you can police on social media, because we don’t have full control over social media. But there is real responsibility. I understand that, and I acknowledge that.” So what’s her message to bad-faith actors harassing others in her name? “Just stop,” says Clark. “Because that’s not who I am.”

In going woke, Clark sells out her conservative supporters as bad actors. Conservative media correctly noticed what Clark was doing here. Jason Whitlock said of Clark that she sold out her fans. Megyn Kelly said of Clark that she “apologized for being White.” Yet the signs of Clarks liberalism were obviosu if people would have eyes to see.

The weekend before our interview, Clark attended back-to-back Taylor Swift shows at Lucas Oil Stadium. She met Swift’s mother and boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. When fans noticed her sitting in a suite, they turned around to take pictures or toss her friendship bracelets. “People are just going crazy that I’m there,” she says. “I thought people would be so in their own world, ready to see Taylor. And it was just completely the opposite.”

Swift gave Clark four bags of Eras Tour merchandise with a note saying Clark was inspiring to watch from afar. She said “Trav and I” were excited to get to a Fever game now that the tour was winding down and invited Clark to attend a Chiefs game with her.

Taylor Swift is a symbol of feminism and vapidity in modern women. The childless cat lady icon is one Caitlin Clark looks up to. Any single man trying to find a godly wife has experieced that Swift obsession is a red flag in a dating profile. Moreover, in September, Caitlin Clark revealed her support for Taylor Swift’s politics.

A quick reminder of what Caitlin Clark liked:

I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.

In a press conference, Caitlin Clark lied that Taylor Swift was merely encouraging people to research candidates and register to vote.

Did Conservative Inc. come to reality that they were actively promoting a woke celbrity then? No. Grifters rushed to defend her honor. Riley Gaines the University of Kentucky swimmer who turned into a Conservative Inc. ethot credited Clark’s defense of supporting Taylor Swift as a testament to her likability. Clay Travis compared Caitlin Clark’s support of Taylor Swift to Michael Jordan’s “Republicans buy sneakers too” quote. This tacit endorsement of Kamala Harris was not explicit enough for Caitlin Clark supporters to take the hint, but this interview finally was. But even then mulitple figures are defending Caitlin Clark insisting on a lack of agency.

Caitlin Clark is getting very bad advice.

The whole country is rejecting wokeism and anti-white ideology. She has a chance to stay neutral and failed miserably.

Her handlers saw this as a chance to “keep woke alive.”

Too bad. She’s an amazing athlete who totally missed on…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 11, 2024

Charlie Kirk thinks that Clark was acting on bad advice. Clay Travis similarly obfuscates:

The WNBA had a big decision to make with the Caitlin Clark phenomenon. They could let her take the WNBA to her level of popularity or drag her down to theirs. They chose the latter. I don’t think this is going to end well. Whoever is advising her on this is running the 2018 woke, white privilege playbook. That sports era is dead. Especially for her fans and the new fans she brought to the WNBA. Just truly awful advice. Her race has nothing to do with her talent. Sports is the ultimate meritocracy.

Clay Travis thinks this a larger conspiracy, but Clark doubled down on spekaing “her truth.”

Jason Whitlock to his credit produced multiple videos on Clark going woke. He even said that he saw this coming. Whitlock was critical of Clark’s tacit Harris endorsement. But even he and his contributor TJ Moe treat Caitlin Clark as someone who “went woke” as opposed to someone who was always liberal.

Right-wing coding is talked about a lot on social media, an example being the movie Sicario for dramatizing right-wing views. Conservative Inc assumed that Clark was right-wing coded because she is White and from Iowa. However that is the only thing remotely right-wing about her. The Taylor Swift appreciation is an obvious sign, but also her ability to dress neither feminely nor like a lesbian is a consistent pattern that also denoted she was not right wing. Conservative Inc. feigned interest in women’s basketball to elevate Caitlin Clark into a cultural icon and feminine hero even though she embodied none of the traits of feminine heroism. Perhaps some even knew this, but wanted to milk the revelation of Clark’s wokeness for content. It was plain from the beginning that Clark was never interested in being a champion of heritage America. So when her liberal worldview showcased itself, it was neither betrayal nor a surpise.