Earlier today, Hank Williams Jr. appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends and compared President Obama playing golf with House Speaker John Boehner to“Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu.” Williams also said that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were “the enemy”:

Williams appeared to discuss the 20^th anniversary of his role singing “Are You Ready For Some Football” before Monday Night Football games. In light of his controversial comments, ESPN has issued the following statement announcing that Williams' song would not be played before tonight's game:

“While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast.”

UPDATE: In a statement posted at TMZ.com, Williams said that his Hitler analogy was “misunderstood”:

Hank Williams Jr. has just released a statement regarding his controversial statements on Fox News Channel this morning -- claiming he was simply “misunderstood” when he compared Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler . Williams Jr. says, “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme - but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me - how ludicrous that pairing was.” He continues, “They're polar opposites and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.” Williams Jr. adds, “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... 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.”

While Williams professed in his statement to have “always resepected the office of the President,” he did not explain his comment that Obama and Biden were “the enemy.”