Hank Williams Jr. Doesn’t Regret Obama, Hitler Analogy
Hank Williams Jr. isn’t sorry for comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. And you probably won’t hear him on “Monday Night Football” anytime soon.
On ABC’s “The View” today, the singer addressed the controversy that arose after his “Fox & Friends” appearance last week in which he made an analogy that President Obama and House Speaker Rep. John Boehner golfing together was like Nazi leader Hitler and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu playing a round. The uproar resulted in ESPN ending its association with Williams and his hit “Are You Ready for Some Football,” which has been the theme song for “Monday Night Football” for years.
“I guess it’s called stepping on the toes of freedom of speech,” Williams said on “The View.” He described how he found out that people were upset with his comments: ”When I came in my house and my daughter said ‘Daddy, are you in trouble?’ and I said ‘What are you talking about’ … and I said, ‘Well if I am, then we all are.’”
“That night,” he said, “I told my manger that you could tell ESPN and Disney adios.”
Disney owns ESPN and ABC. Despite his presence on an ABC show, Williams didn’t mince words when it came to the parent company.
“The bottom line folks, Mickey is a mean mouse,” he said. “Disney, ABC and ESPN and me and the opening of ‘Monday Night Football’ are kind of like the Spanish American War. They’re history.”
And despite the fall-out, Williams doesn’t regret what he said on “Fox & Friends. ”
“At this point, I really don’t,” he said. “That golf game, a bunch of politicians … that are out there juking and jiving and high-fiving was so inappropriate with the things that this country is going to, going through, I mean. … It was absurd.”
“View” co-host Joy Behar asked why Williams used Hilter in his analogy instead of a less polarizing figure who may not have fueled so much flak.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m not smart enough to know the difference.”