After an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” morning program comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler, ESPN has announced it will pull Hank Williams, Jr.’s iconic “Are You Ready For Some Football?” opening from tonight’s Monday Night Football game.
On Fox, Williams in an interview likened a golf “summit” between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to a golf match between Hitler and (Israel Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu.
Once the news broke, ESPN was asked for a statement and this came shortly before 6 p.m. ET.
“While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”
Michael Hiestand of USA Today has more on the story.
I’ll have more later.
UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.: Hank Williams, Jr. has just issued a statement on the issue. He doesn’t really apologize for making his analogy to Fox News this morning. He doesn’t apologize, but he does try to clarify.
“Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme – but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was. They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.”
“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… Working class people are hurting – and it doesn’t seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change.” – Hank Williams, Jr.
That’s it.
