Retired Navy SEAL Jeremiah Patrick is not one to mince words, and he did not hold back during a recent interview on Yellowhammer Radio.
Patrick served on SEAL Team Three, alongside guys like Medal of Honor recipient Mike Monsoor, “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, and “The Last Punisher” author Kevin Lacz. Perhaps most notably, Patrick and his compatriots were called on to take the fight to Iraqi insurgents in the Battle of Ramadi, one of the toughest of the Iraq War.
Patrick now runs Never Settle Consulting, which does “training and consulting in combative’s, shooting, tactics, long-range shooting, and unique team-building events to improve companies’ leadership and sales teams,” and is an MMA fighter. But this past week he was in-studio with Yellowhammer Radio host Cliff Sims to discuss a wide range of topics, from his role in the upcoming Transformers movie, to his take on current events and politics.
Sims asked him for his take on the 2016 presidential race.
“I just wonder what happened; what’s changed with our country?” Patrick began. “I mean, Hillary? Come on. I’ve got to watch what I say so I don’t end up ‘committing suicide,’ but you know she’s worthless. I mean there’s reasons why there are t-shirts out that say ‘Hillary Clinton killed my friends.’ There’s a reason for that, you just don’t make that up.”
Patrick said Mrs. Clinton’s role in the U.S. government’s botched response to the Benghazi terrorist attack still impacts him emotionally.
“It hits hard. There’s no reason for that to happen to these guys,” he said. “I’m not a big political guy. I don’t try to dive into the middle, because I don’t see the big picture on a lot of things, and I understand that. I know my role. I know my level of intelligence on things. But I’ve talked to guys that are very in-depth and know a lot about it and helped with the movie (13 Hours). Ty [Woods] and Glen [Doherty] were good dudes, and the ambassador (Chris Stevens) was as well. There’s no reason for that to have happened to those guys. But seeing what Michael Bay and the rest of the guys did with the movie to help bring some stuff to light was cool. You can read between the lines in that movie and know exactly what’s going on.”
Sims also asked Patrick for his take on the growing trend of professional athletes refusing to stand for the National Anthem. San Francisco 49ers quarterback started the protests, saying he would no longer stand at attention for a flag he believes represents oppression.
“Well, you know he’s had a really rough life,” Patrick said sarcastically. “Come on, bro. Get out of here. That subject kind of tears at me. Because you know what? Freedom of speech. Does he have the right to do that? Absolutely. But should he? No. If this country is good enough to live in, then it should be good enough to respect the flag, respect our National Anthem, and it should be good enough to fight for. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But go travel across the world, look at these other countries and see what it’s like.
“You’re making millions of dollars and now you’re going to all of a sudden take a stand because people are being oppressed?” Patrick continued. “What have you done to help that? I don’t know, I don’t care about the guy. I think he’s worthless as a person now because of that… I’ve escorted bodies of my buddies home with that flag draped over their casket and then you’re going to disrespect it? I don’t understand people like that. What’s even more disrespectful is, what does that say to his parents that raised him and adopted him? He was adopted. They really oppressed him, right? You have a horrible life becoming an NFL quarterback. Must suck.”
To hear Yellowhammer’s complete interview with Patrick, check out the video above. To subscribe to the Yellowhammer Radio podcast on iTunes, click here.
