Pat McAfee isn’t going to hear the political backlash on Veterans Day.
If you ask me, our military veterans deserve to be treated like royalty. The brave men and women that fight to protect this country are true, every day heroes. We treat them as such when they are deployed, but we could do a better job of celebrating and lifting them up when they return home from service.
Though they deserve our praise every single day of the year, I’m grateful that we have Veterans Day to honor those who have served our great country. And ESPN’s Pat McAfee made sure to go all out in celebrating our country’s veterans by airing his show live from Parris Island – the site of Marine Corps recruit training since 1915.
The South Carolina island was the perfect spot for Pat McAfee and his show to shine a light on those have served the country in the past, while also bringing attention to those who are currently serving. While they were on air, The Pat McAfee Show shared Veterans Day messages from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, among others.
They also had the privilege of having the President of the United States, Donald Trump, join the show live. The POTUS called into the show and stuck around for a while, and Pat McAfee asked him what Veterans Day meant to him – especially now that he’s the Commander In Chief for a second time.
Here’s what Trump had to say:
“To me, it means taking care of the Veterans, because they’ve taken care of us.”
That’s a good way of putting it.
Pat was also utilizing the live, Marine Corps crowd that he had on set all day long, and that didn’t change when President Trump called in. The POTUS spoke highly of the Marines at one point, which led the recruits in attendance to respond with an “OORAH.” McAfee was able to convince Trump to give those at Parris Island an “OORAH” of his own:
Gotta love that.
And when The Pat McAfee Show‘s time with Trump came to an end, they thanked the president for taking the time out of his busy schedule to join the show. Then right after, Pat got ahead of the presumed internet firestorm that was headed his way (some might not be happy to tune into McAfee’s show and see an interview with the President) and fired this message at the haters that may or may not have been upset:
“I would like to say, for the immediate people that are gonna be mad about that happening – it’s the President of the United States. It’s Veterans Day. He’s the Commander-in-Chief. Obviously, if we have the opportunity to talk to him, we’re going to. And… he is hilarious.”
Yeah… there are bigger things than politics on this glorious Veterans Day. I’m glad that Pat McAfee didn’t let the haters drag him down (he usually never does) and defended his “progrum” having the President of the United States on. It wasn’t about Pat or the POTUS today. It was about celebrating and honoring the military veterans who served for the betterment of America.
Hopefully people can put politics aside and understand that.
