Well, to be fair, you can have "free speech", but your employer is under no obligation to sanction it. Do it on your own time. That was one of my objections to the kneeling during the anthem. The social justice people were calling it the right to free speech. I always thought the the NFL could just suspend the kneelers. I mean, if you owned a McDonalds, and the guy at the counter was spouting communist propaganda to the customers, you have every right to sack the dipshit.
That being said, ESPN hires these individuals for their opinions. I guess some opinions are more equal than others...