LOS ANGELES -- Hank Williams Jr. is gone from ESPN and "Monday Night Football." But he hasn't gone quietly.
The country singer of ESPN's "Monday Night Football" theme song parted ways with the sports network last week after making comments on "Fox & Friends" comparing President Barack Obama to Hitler.
He made his first appearance since leaving the network on Tuesday's edition of ABC's "The View," showing much of the outrageous and rambling personality that was on display during the Fox News Channel program.
Wearing a New York Yankees/Mickey Mantle jersey and orange-colored sunglasses, Williams took several shots at Disney-owned ESPN, saying at one point, "Mickey is a mean mouse." Though he insisted he was misunderstood and was using an analogy between Hitler and Obama to make a political point, he declined to apologize or take back his earlier statements.
When co-host Joy Behar said that mentioning Hitler in his Obama statement was "treacherous" and that he could have mentioned Stalin or another controversial world figure, Williams replied, "I didn't go to Harvard. I'm not smart enough to know the difference."
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Williams said he had recorded a new song about the furor, "Keep The Change," that had been downloaded 100,000 times since Monday afternoon. He then announced, "As of May 1 in 2012, ladies and gentlemen, me and my song will be free agents. America is a country of choice and options, and I have choice and options."
