Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe announced that he was dismissed from his position as a freshman football coach at a California high school following a speech at a city council meeting where he labeled the MAGA movement as a “Nazi movement.” Kluwe shared on BlueSky, “I just got fired from being a freshman football coach, if you want to see what MAGA does to communities. They don’t care about what helps people; the school certainly won’t find an ex-NFL player willing to coach at that level. They only care about trying to hurt people.” He later told CNN that his termination was due to the incident attracting “too much attention.”
Kluwe was arrested at a Huntington Beach City Council meeting last week while protesting the decision to display a plaque at a public library. The plaque featured words like magical, alluring, galvanizing, and adventurous, which together formed the acronym MAGA. A video from the meeting captured Kluwe criticizing the MAGA movement, referring to it as “a Nazi movement” and expressing his intent to engage in civil disobedience. He was subsequently handcuffed and removed by police.
In a CNN appearance shortly after, Kluwe stood firm in his beliefs, stating, “I believe we’re on the path that Nazi Germany went down under Hitler. And I say that as a political science and history major, someone who has studied history. The parallels are very, very clear.”
Kluwe, 43, expressed his concerns regarding the Trump administration’s policies on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, among other issues. He remarked, “This administration is trying to prioritize obedience over duty to the country. They are attempting to plunge our nation into turmoil for their own gain. Regardless of political affiliation, all Americans should agree — no kings, no tyrants, not now, not ever.”
He also addressed the election and those who supported President Donald Trump, asserting, “Hitler was elected too. Many good Germans believed that Hitler had their best interests at heart. Similarly, many good Americans think Trump has their best interests in mind. However, I am confident that this administration has shown that Trump does not have their best interests in mind.”
On Wednesday, Kluwe called for other officials to “start engaging in civil disobedience.” He told the Daily Pilot, “I want our elected Democratic officials to start engaging in civil disobedience. People need to recognize that what’s happening with this administration is leading us down a very dark path. Currently, no one is willing to step up and do that. So, if I want to ask them to do it, then I have to be willing to do it myself.
