House Dem: Hank Williams Jr. comments show 'racist hatred'

A Democratic congressman on Tuesday blasted country music star Hank Williams, Jr. for comparing President Obama to Hitler, calling the comments a sign of "racist hatred."

Hank Williams, Jr., perhaps best known for his song “Are You Ready for Some Football?” which opens Monday Night Football, criticized House Speaker John Boehner for playing golf with President Obama during an interview Monday on “Fox & Friends.”

The golf game was like “Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he said, identifying Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as “the enemy.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) tweeted: "Hank Williams Jr 's comparison of @BarackObama w/ Hitler reflects racist hatred that has no place in our polity. Glad @ESPN #MNF pulled him"

In reaction to the controversy, ESPN pulled Williams’s usual opening sequence from their Monday Night Football (#MNF) telecast.

In a statement Tuesday, Williams acknowledged that the comparison was “extreme” but did not apologize. “It was to make a point,” he said. “I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me -- how ludicrous that pairing was."

Williams also suggested that there was some hypocrisy demonstrated by the controversy.

"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," he said. "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."

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