The hockey coach who went viral for telling his players that if any of them were “going to be disrespectful” to the flag they should “get the f— out,” defended the U.S. women’s soccer team during an appearance on Fox & Friends.
The video of John Krupinsky, the assistant coach of the Hat Tricks in Danbury, Connecticut, went viral around the time of the Women’s World Cup final.
Before winning the tournament, team captain Megan Rapinoe made headlines for saying she would not visit the “f—— White House” if President Trump invited her. She has previously knelt during the national anthem.
Krupinsky appeared on Fox & Friends to discuss his viral video and his thoughts on the U.S. women’s soccer team Thursday morning.
“[The anthem] is really important to me. I take pride in my country,” Krupinsky began. “The flag, I have unfortunately seen it covering too many coffins. And I think we can take time out to give two minutes worth of respect to our soldiers, to our firemen, to our policemen. I don’t think that’s asking too much. I’m not going to apologize for asking players to show a little bit of respect when it’s either the American or Canadian national anthem.”
“They’re our team. That’s USA. They are wearing USA on their jerseys. I don’t care if it’s curling to soccer to anything. If they got a USA on their jersey, as Americans we need to support them,” he continued. “I wasn’t really too familiar with Megan [Rapinoe] before this whole thing started. I have got to say you watch her game, she is an awesome player.”
