Pat McAfee apologizes after slamming Canadians for booing U.S. anthem at WWE event in Toronto
'You booed us, I said you were terrible, let’s shake hands and move along. I still love Canadians.'
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Pat McAfee might be more Canadian than he realizes, offering up an apology to those in the Great White North.
The ESPN and WWE announcer found himself in hot water after tearing into Canada, calling it a “terrible country” after fans in Toronto booed the U.S. national anthem at WWE’s Elimination Chamber event on Saturday.
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Pat McAfee apologizes after slamming Canadians for booing U.S. anthem at WWE event in Toronto Back to video
But on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday, the former NFL punter was singing a different tune.
The at-times controversial commentator explained his actions at the WWE event, saying that it was “overwhelming” and that he now sees the other side of the coin.
“Now Canada, listen, there’s been some things said to me from Canadians that I guess I respect because of the passion that you have for your country — which I hope you understand that I was showing the same for mine. You booed my country,” McAfee said.
He also acknowledged the political climate between the United States and Canada since President Trump’s repeated remarks about making Canada “the 51st state” and imposing tariffs – which have since come into effect.
“I understand, now, from the Canadians that they have a lot more passion for their country than I could have imagined. A lot of terrible things have been said about me and I understand it,” McAfee said.
“I didn’t say Canadians were terrible, I said your country was. You booed us, I said you were terrible, let’s shake hands and move along. I still love Canadians … I hope it gets settled.”
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He ended the segment by saying “I’m sorry, so lets go shake their hands” while extending his hand and miming a hand-shake motion to the camera.
At the beginning of Saturday night’s event at Rogers Centre, the 38,000 fans in attendance ferociously booed throughout singer Elizabeth Irving’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.
During the anthem, McAfee could be seen standing on top of his chair at the announce table with his hand on his heart before turning around and clapping as the song ended.
On the broadcast, which aired live on Netflix, McAfee was quick to fire a shot at the crowd for its jeers.
“These are the most stacked Elimination Chambers that the WWE has ever had,” McAfee began. “Kinda sucks that it’s in the terrible country of Canada.
“They booed our national anthem to start this entire thing, but it’s going to be a historic night.”
Former ESPN star and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann weighed in on the situation, calling on ESPN to fire McAfee for the incident, calling him an “idiot” for the outburst.
“A lot of us tried to warn the new espn management that the day would come when this idiot would draw them into a permanent political controversy and they could either be subsumed by it, or fire him,” Olbermann wrote on X.
ESPN has yet to address the situation publicly.
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