Palin defends ‘Duck Dynasty’ star

Sarah Palin expressed solidarity with one of the stars of the television show “Duck Dynasty” after he was suspended from the program for making anti-gay comments.
 
Palin said reality TV star Phil Robertson was only voicing his personal opinions, adding that “free speech is an endangered species.” 

“Those ‘intolerants’ hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us,” the former Alaska governor wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday night.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said he found many of Robertson’s remarks offensive but said people are entitled to express their own views. The “Dynasty” family lives in Louisiana. 

{mosads}”It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended,” Jindal said in a statement.

During an interview with GQ magazine in its January edition, Robertson described homosexuality as sinful, using it in the same breath as bestiality. He also called it illogical.

“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he said during the interview before quoting from a relevant passage in the Bible.

A&E, the network that produces the show, expressed disappointment in his remarks and placed Robertson on “hiatus from filming” indefinitely. The show is one of the highest rated on TV.

A number of gay rights organizations have blasted the comments. And the reality TV star released his own statement, saying he would not treat anyone with disrespect because he disagrees with them.

Alec Baldwin’s show on MSNBC was recently canceled a few weeks after he made an anti-gay comment to a photographer. He had been initially suspended for the incident but MSNBC ultimately canceled the show late last month.