Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was never shy during his career when it came to speaking about social issues, and that’s continued into his retirement. Kluwe was arrested at a Huntington Beach city council meeting in California on Wednesday after speaking out against Donald Trump’s “MAGA” movement, before engaging in civil disobedience.
“Unfortunately it’s clear that this council does not listen, so instead I’m going to take my time to say what MAGA has stood for these past three weeks. MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for re-segregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans. MAGA stands for firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal. MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA — including cancelling research on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for cutting funds for education, including for disabled children. MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakable anti-democracy, and most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced as swastika with a red hat — but that’s what it is. I will now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience.”
Kluwe attended the meeting to voice his objection to a proposal to add a plaque outside the Huntington Beach City Library which overtly praised the MAGA movement. The plaque would have had the words “Magical,” “Alluring,” “Galvanizing,” and Adventurous” — a clear acronym evoking MAGA, while also reading “Through hope and change our nation has built back better to the golden era of Making America Great Again!”
The former NFL player’s comments were met with applause and cheers by those in attendance shortly before he was carried from the building by police.
Kluwe, the No. 2 punter in Vikings history, has always had a history of being vocal on issues he supports. He claimed he was marginalized by the organization for being a supporter of same-sex marriage which resulted in his release by Minnesota in 2014. A lawsuit ensued, which the Vikings eventually settled — donating money to five LGBTQ groups and making a commitment to reduce stigma against the LGBTQ community in sports.
“People need to be aware that what’s going on with this administration is leading us down a really dark path. Right now, 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 too.”
One council member, Gracey Van Der Mark, characterized Kluwe’s protest as “scary,” adding that he wanted his “five minutes of fame.” In response to his comments about MAGA she said that it was part of an effort to “take back” Huntington Beach from liberal values.
“The city of Huntington Beach has always been conservative, and they tried to change that, and we’re just taking it back to the way it was. If I wanted to live in a liberal city with liberal values, I would have stayed in Los Angeles.”
Kluwe had vowed to continue protesting the current administration.