ESPN host and commentator Pat McAfee defended his decision to have President Donald Trump call into his show after critics expressed their anger on social media.
On Tuesday, McAfee’s show was at Parris Island, South Carolina, the historic site of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, to celebrate Veterans Day. McAfee invited Trump to call into the show. Trump began to talk about Veterans Day as well as give his stance on the economy and immigration. With many people criticizing McAfee, he opened Wednesday’s show to explain why he had Trump on.
“In my eyes, he’s the leader of the military, and we were celebrating the hell out of Veterans Day,” McAfee said. “There are people that are certainly not the most happy that that happened. What I would like to say, every veteran and military person that I talked to was very grateful and thankful that we spotlighted the heroes of America who walk amongst us, who are willing to sign a line and go for the United States of America as opposed to anything else.”
“If you’re against what happened yesterday, I would like to say, you hate the troops and you should go ahead and swallow that,” McAfee continued. “You can take that to where you want to go.”
McAfee ended his rant with a direct message to his detractors.
“I’ve got a lot of people who don’t know what a football looks like telling me that they’re never going to watch my show again,” McAfee said. “I would like to let you know, good. (Expletive) you. Let’s move on.”
McAfee flipped two middle fingers to the screen at the end of his rant.
McAfee said he also invited former President Barack Obama to come on the show, but the two sides were unable to schedule an appearance. McAfee said his show is not political and emphasized that it did not matter what side of the political aisle they were from. “We would like to let any president know going forward ... future presidents, you will always be welcome,” McAfee said.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.