On Tuesday, Pat McAfee hosted his eponymous show from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina to celebrate Veterans Day. The show featured numerous gestures in praise of the military, but none more notable than an interview with the sitting president.
The commander-in-chief spoke to McAfee by phone, with much of the interview focused on celebrating veterans. However, the interview has come under fire in the days since. Critics point out that McAfee gave President Trump carte blanche to discuss lies about the 2020 election, didn’t bring up Trump’s history of denigrating the military, and then hid behind his self-proclaimed ignorance of politics when facing the predictable criticism of hosting a controversial political figure on ESPN airwaves.
The following day, McAfee claimed that anyone who disagreed with his decision to interview Trump “hate[d] the troops.”
Despite the polarizing nature of the interview, one of McAfee’s ESPN colleagues decided to publicly voice his support for the former Indianapolis Colts punter during a high-leverage portion of College GameDay on Saturday. Fellow GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit told McAfee that his Veterans Day show was one of the “best shows you’ve ever had,” as the show’s panel picked Saturday’s slate of college football games.
“Veterans Day was Tuesday,” McAfee said before making his selection for the USF-Navy game. “Give me Navy, for America. Of course, I’ll take Navy to get a big time win.” After celebrity picker Aaron Donald also picked Navy, McAfee said, “And God bless the troops,” at which point Herbstreit quickly jumped in to say, “And God bless you for that show you put on Tuesday. One of your best shows you’ve ever had.”
In Herbstreit’s defense, McAfee’s Trump interview was but a small portion of a three-hour show that featured plenty of tactful celebration for our nation’s armed forces. However, the Trump interview was by far the most notable part of the show, and the part that has received the vast majority of media coverage (and criticism) in the days following the episode.
Whether Herbstreit meant his comments to be an endorsement of the Trump interview or not, that is how they came off.
https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/kirk-herbstreit-endorses-pat-mcafee-veterans-day-show-trump-interview.html