Sports media personality Pat McAfee has addressed the backlash he’s received from Canadians for calling their nation a “terrible country” during the WWE Elimination Chamber event on Saturday.

Elizabeth Irving performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario before the 2025 WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. As they’ve been doing at sporting events since President Donald Trump began calling for the nation to become America’s 51st state, Canadians in attendance booed the U.S. national anthem:

After WWE play-by-play commentator Michael Cole introduced Pat McAfee and Wade Barrett at the announce table, the former NFL punter turned heel (in Canada, at least) by calling the Great White North “terrible” in a scathing rant:

“Kinda sucks that it’s in the terrible country of Canada that booed our national anthem to start this entire thing! But it’s gonna be a historic night for the WWE on the road to WrestleMania.”

Unsurprisingly, McAfee received tremendous backlash from disappointed and agitated Canadians. The 37-year-old addressed his controversial comments and the subsequent criticism on Monday’s edition of his show:

“Any time I’ve ever heard somebody boo our national anthem, my natural reaction is, ‘let’s fight.’ That is my natural reaction.

Now, a lot of Canadians have told me, ‘why don’t you do a little investigating on why we’re booing. Did you hear what your president said?’ OK listen, I understand that there’s political differences at the current moment between us and Canada. But I feel like any time I think of Canada, I don’t think of what Justin Trudeau does. I don’t think immediately of Justin Trudeau’s decisions. I don’t think immediately of what Canada is doing in the political sphere…

I understand now from the Canadians that they have a lot more passion for their country than I could have ever imagined,” McAfee said. “A lot of terrible things have been said about me, and I understand it. You boo my country, I called your country terrible, let’s shake hands.”

Relations between Canada and the United States have been historically strong, but they’ve grown tense during Trump’s push for the country to become the 51st state. As a response, Canadian hockey fans have booed the U.S. national anthem performance at NHL games.

The booing carried over at the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Canadian fans booed the U.S. anthem before their round robin game in Montreal, and Americans responded by booing “O Canada” before the championship game in Boston five days later.

Pat McAfee Is Still Getting Heat From Canadians

If you go through the replies to the X video of his apology to folks north of the border, McAfee is still getting destroyed by unhappy Canadians.

Political differences aside, it’s not the best idea to refer to a nation as a “terrible country” on live television, especially when you’re in that very nation. ESPN has let McAfee and the show’s guests get away with controversial statements time and time again, so he’s not about to be reprimanded here.