(Fox and Friends)
Are you ready for some Hitler?
Hours after Hank Williams Jr. compared President Obama to the Nazi leader on an appearance on "Fox and Friends" Monday, ESPN pulled Williams' familiar "Monday Night Football" theme song--and its "Are you ready for some football?" refrain--from its telecast.
"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,' " ESPN said in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast."
Williams' song, "All My Rowdy Friends," had opened "Monday Night Football" broadcasts for 20 years.
The country singer and aspiring politician was a guest on "Fox and Friends" to break down the 2012 GOP presidential field.
Williams--who campaigned for John McCain in 2008--said the president's golf outing with House Speaker John Boehner at the height of the debt deal talks in June "would be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu," later calling Obama and Vice President Joe Biden "the enemy."
Williams had said he would run for Senate in 2012 in his home state of Tennessee, though a controversy like this could well curtail that plan.
After ESPN pulled the song, the singer's publicist issued a statement:
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.
You can watch Williams' "Fox and Friends" appearance below: