Hank Williams Jr. Apologizes For Obama-Hitler Analogy

Hank Williams Jr. apologized Tuesday for controversial remarks he made comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. Williams called his statement "dumb" in a message posted on his official website.

Williams, the country star behind ESPN's "Monday Night Football" theme song, made his inflammatory comments Monday morning on Fox News' "Fox & Friends." HuffPost previously reported on Williams' TV appearance:

He [Williams] got right into it, telling the hosts that he didn't like any of the candidates in the GOP primary for President, and that John Boehner's golf game with Barack Obama was a major mistake.

"That would be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu. Not hardly. In the shape this country is in?"

When Brian Kilmeade said that he didn't understand the analogy, Williams was non-plussed. "I'm glad you don't brother, because a lot of people do. They're the enemy... Obama! And Biden! Are you kidding? The Three Stooges."

ESPN pulled Williams from its "Monday Night Football" introduction following the appearance. In an official statement, ESPN wrote:

"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."

Williams clarified his comments later on Monday, saying that his "analogy was extreme - but it was to make a point," and that he has "always respected the office of the President."

The singer's full apology from Tuesday, entitled "THANKS TO MY SUPPORTERS," can be found below (via his official website):

"I have always been very passionate about Politics and Sports and this time it got the Best or Worst of me. The thought of the Leaders of both Parties Jukin and High Fiven on a Golf course, while so many Families are Struggling to get by simply made me Boil over and make a Dumb statement and I am very Sorry if it Offended anyone. I would like to Thank all my supporters. This was Not written by some Publicist." -- Hank Williams Jr

Comments

[portabello]

02:56 AM on 10/08/2011

I still think the analogy was only partly to blame for his firing. Showing up on the morning show in sunglasses and obviously high as a kite didn't score him any points either.

[Berynice]

11:22 AM on 10/07/2011

I don't even know who this clown is. Thank goodness. Maybe if I were into football I would. Who cares WTF he thinks anyway? And anybody who nominated him for president would certainly deserve what they get.

[driveinnow]

03:58 AM on 10/07/2011

This country need's a change ..If Ronald Regan can get elected Hank , so can you ..YOU GOT MY VOTE !!!.. I would like to see a poll as to who people would vote for as president between Obama AND Hank William's Jr.

[portabello]

02:58 AM on 10/08/2011

Good point.

If a has been actor can be president, why not a obscure drug addled singer? The Republicans are pretty desperate last I checked.

[Michael Zand]

07:42 PM on 10/06/2011

Of course he apologized. That's a nice little royalty check he was getting every time they played that song. I guess we found out where his principled stand on free speech stops -- at his wallet.

[douglazyxx]

08:53 PM on 10/06/2011

Michael. SO TRUE !! And that nice "little" Royalty check is enough to buy a big house every monday night. Funny thing is if he had said his comment was a little extreme right after he said it I would have chalked it up to him just speaking without really thinking...(which we all have done at one point) but noooooo he has to keep going with it, saying a lot of people understand what he meant, and also... the fail at damage control by saying "Herman Cain" is the best pick. I kinda knew that was coming.lol

[hardpan1]

04:18 PM on 10/06/2011

Well its about time!! he"s a nobody who lived off his fathers name! No wonder his dad drank when he saw him born! Remember when he back palin? same brain level! YEEE!!!! HAAAA!!!!

[cbrown1389]

01:06 PM on 10/06/2011

kiss your cash cow good bye, these guys are getting more and more cocky with their words, it's about time they pay. Apologies mean nothing any more in their world, and they mean nothing to me, coming from them. Only a REAL man or woman can apologize and mean it, he's a boy.

[SkeeBee]

12:00 AM on 10/06/2011

Dohseefus:

As possessed of an air of sentience as he is intelligen­t.
As knowledgea­ble as he is relevant.
As free of Suck as a Nooquelur powered Dyson vacuum.

Doosheefus­.

[roxindigo]

08:50 PM on 10/05/2011

Clearly Hank made a major mistake. I get the fact that "bells can't be unrung" and even a sincere apology from him would be pretty useless. There is a thing such as forgiveness though ...

[ClintBMD]

01:09 AM on 10/06/2011

He hasn't offered a sincere apology so who knows? Saying "If I offended anyone..." is not an apology.

[douglazyxx]

08:54 PM on 10/06/2011

LOL...exactly.

[Joyce Palmer Woody]

08:09 PM on 10/07/2011

Clint you are 100 percent correct!

[cminca]

08:39 PM on 10/05/2011

He made a remark he believed. When faced with losing his royalties he offered a non-apology apology.

When a republican is faced with the choice between his beliefs and money--you know which side he comes down on.

[GustavoRejivik]

08:17 PM on 10/05/2011

What's the big deal here??

Democrats spent the past 10 years comparing Bush to Hitler ... yet this singer gets fired for doing the same thing Elected Democrats spew out every week??

Whatever...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160275,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107426,00.html

[Your name here]

11:42 PM on 10/05/2011

Dixie Chicks?

[middleCmusic]

10:22 AM on 10/06/2011

In the first one Durbin was comparing the tactics used at Guantanamo to prisoner of war tactics used by the Nazis and others. I think given what we've heard about treatment of detainees in the past, it is an accurate comparison. It is in no way however a comparison between Bush and Hitler. Big difference.

And when someone submitted something to Moveon, they got tons of flack - and it wasn't even THEIR video.

Sorry, but your comparison is bad. Regular citizens may have been comparing Bush to Hitler, but plenty of Tea Partiers have marched with Obama = Hitler signs and mustaches on our president. The difference is that ESPN is a private company and they can do what they want. Who was going to fire Moveon? They were their own company.

It seems like conservatives don't understand free speech...

[rickybear]

11:02 AM on 10/06/2011

Thank you for your comment.

[xblndeeoo4x]

07:07 PM on 10/05/2011

Seem's like a half @zzed apology if you ask me..funny how he apologizes when the misunderstanding effects his wallet. Pffttt!!

[Solarangel]

05:22 PM on 10/05/2011

Back in the late 80's, I was a weekend DJ at a country music station, and this is one of the Hank Jr. songs I had to play. Let's just say that his attitudes toward Obama shouldn't come as a big surprise to anybody.

"If the South would have Won (We'd'a had it Made)"
http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=FnhKpdgHS­O8

[Mitzy]

04:10 PM on 10/05/2011

It's not the "Hitler" remark that is most troubling, it's his declaration that the president and vice-president are the "enemy." So whose side is Williams on, Al Qaeda? The Taliban? Iran? Kaddafi? Last I looked they were the only ones calling Obama "the enemy."

[PickOneTwoThree]

04:02 PM on 10/05/2011

"They're the enemy... Obama! And Biden! Are you kidding? The Three Stooges."

Are YOU kidding? It's like the police putting up 2 fingers before a suspected DWI and asking "How many fingers?" If the person answer 3, it's a good bet their drunk.

What was he was talking about anyway? If Obama is supposed to be Hitler, does that make Boehner, Netanyahu? The guy was drunk.

I don't care if he stays with ESPN or not - I don't watch football and if I did, the guy singing at the beginning of the show wouldn't matter. And having a drunk associated with the program doesn't do much for its image as wholesome entertainment. But isn't it interesting how quickly he caves when his paycheck in jeopardy.

[gurukalehuru]

03:13 PM on 10/05/2011

Hank Williams, Jr. could learn a thing or two from Johnny Depp. See www.gurukalehuru.com