The 2016 Republican National Convention already is off to a not-so-great start, and Lou Holtz is doing little to help that cause.
The legendary former Notre Dame football coach appeared at a luncheon Tuesday to honor Phyllis Schlafly, the founder of the conservative interest group Eagle Forum. Holtz created a stir with some pretty strong comments about immigrants, whom he believes have a responsibility to adapt to the United States’ customs.
“I don’t want to become you,” Holtz said, via The Daily Beast. “I don’t want to speak your language, I don’t want to celebrate your holidays, I sure as hell don’t want to cheer for your soccer team!”
Holtz, whose own grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, also said he views the nation’s recent swell of immigrants as an “invasion” and that immigrants need to assimilate better.
That’s not the best look for Holtz, who left ESPN as an analyst in 2015. Yet those comments weren’t the only reason he found the spotlight, as a photo surfaced earlier Tuesday of the 79-year-old holding a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey at the convention’s headquarters in Cleveland.
You might want to lay low for a little while, Lou.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
