Jemele Hill inaccurately asserts that the Electoral College is completely based in slavery and it hurt Kamala’s chances in the election

Jemele Hill’s Take on the Electoral College

CNN seems to have a recurring inclination to invite former ESPN host Jemele Hill to comment on significant political matters. This week, the focus was on the Electoral College.

During a discussion on Monday night, Hill stated that the entire electoral college system is “rooted in slavery” and argued that it may have cost Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris their chances against President Donald Trump.

“The Electoral College is rooted in slavery,” Hill mentioned. “That’s really the main reason for the existence of this system, and we should have moved past it quite a while ago. It’s not solely because two capable women ran and lost.”

To her credit, Hill was able to shift the conversation from Clinton’s 2016 loss to broader themes of racism. Not a bad move, I guess. But, then again, there’s a lot of debate about the role of slavery in shaping the electorate. While the Three-Fifths Compromise definitely gave slave states more political clout, suggesting that slavery was “the whole reason” behind the Electoral College is misleading.

The electoral college itself was a compromise among the Founding Fathers, caught between whether Congress should elect the president or if the populace should vote directly. This system also ensures that smaller states have a voice in presidential elections, something that wouldn’t happen if we only relied on the popular vote. Without it, less populated states might get ignored altogether.

And that’s important to note. The United States isn’t just one big state; it consists of various states, many of which have smaller populations. Besides that, Hill claimed that the system kept “two women” from being president, but that isn’t exactly accurate either. Kamala Harris lost both the Electoral College and the popular vote to Trump in 2024.

This brings up a concern about CNN featuring personalities like Hill and Cali Champion, who seem to struggle with their facts. It’s a bit disheartening, really.

It’s amusing to see Hill spread misinformation on CNN. Just recently, she suggested that if she were white, she would accept a better-paying job for which she is “not qualified.” Quite the statement.

In any case, it appears that Hill continues to chase opportunities for which she might not be the best fit, such as discussing the potential abolition of the electoral college on CNN.