ESPN dropped Hank Williams Jr.’s well-known “Are You Ready for Some Football?” opening song for Monday Night Football last night after the country singer compared President Obama to “Hitler” earlier in the day and called the president and vice president “the enemy.” Shortly after Williams made the comments on Fox & Friends yesterday morning, ESPN said in a statement, “We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”
Williams, a staunch conservative who is reportedly considering a GOP Senate run in Tennessee, said his comments were “misunderstood,” yet he seemed to stand by them:
“Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme – but it was to make a point.” [...]
Williams Jr. adds, “Every time the media brings up the tea party it’s painted as racist and extremists – but there’s never a backlash – no outrage to those comparisons.”
Watch Williams’ uncomfortable appearance on Fox & Friends, in which he also seemed to make a pass at host Gretchen Carlson, via Media Matters:
But not everyone was offended. Tea Party Nation founder Judson Philips tweeted this morning, “I stand with Hank,” and suggested he will boycott the sports network of the incident. “If ESPN will not have Hank Williams because of his political beliefs I will not watch ESPN.” “No Hank, no football!” he added. There’s also a petition circulating on a conservative activist website calling on conservatives to “boycott ESPN and their sponsors just like the libs did to Glenn Beck.”
Update
Fox Business host Don Imus also defended Williams, saying today that Williams did not actually compare Obama to Hitler and is getting a “bum rap.” Imus, who has his own history of getting kicked of air for saying inappropriate things, said Fox & Friends, “threw [Williams] right under the bus.” Still, Imus agreed that bringing up Hitler at all was “idiotic.” Watch it:
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