Former NFL punter makes ‘Nazi’ comparison to GOP bill

Former NFL punter and California State Assembly candidate Chris Kluwe spoke out Wednesday on the passage of the Protect Children’s Innocence Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kluwe, who was fired from his job as a freshman high school football coach in February after a speech at a city council meeting in which he called MAGA a “Nazi movement,” once again made comparisons to the Nazis when discussing the bill in a BlueSky article.

“F— every single one of these assholes. Once again, this is literally what the Nazis did,” Kluwe wrote while sharing a news article about the bill’s passage in the House.

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The bill, sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., would make treating minors with gender-affirming care like surgeries and puberty blockers a class C felony, and doctors who provide such treatment would face up to 10 years in prison.

Kluwe expanded on his message in a statement to PK Press Club Digital.

“Trying to criminalize the trans community is literally step one in the Nazi playbook…and everyone who voted ‘yes’ on this should be ashamed of themselves. If these cowardly culture wars died down – they actually wanted to protect children, they would pass gun control and universal health care,” Kluwe said.

There are no available historical records proving that the Nazi regime actively imprisoned doctors who performed sex changes on children. A prominent German physician specializing in transgender science, Magnus Hirschfeld, was forced into exile after his citizenship was revoked in 1933. Records suggest that Hirschfeld performed sex reassignment procedures on adults.

The House vote in favor of the Children’s Innocence Protection Act was 216 to 211. Three Democrats supported the measure, while four Republicans opposed it.

A similar bill sponsored by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, bans federal Medicaid funding for gender transition procedures for minors. This bill is expected to be voted on in the House on Thursday.

Kluwe became a lightning rod for conservative backlash in 2025 after his initial viral comments to the city council in February. He was arrested at a meeting when he said he wanted other officials to “start engaging in civil disobedience.”

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Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe protests at the city council meeting in Huntington Beach, California. (City of Huntington Beach)

Klue spoke out against the installation of a plaque bearing the acronym “MAGA” outside the city library for its 50th anniversary. The plaque will have the words “Magical”, “Seductive”, “Galvanizing” and “Adventurous” side by side. It also reads: “Through hope and change, our nation has built back better the golden age of Making America Great Again!” »

The ex-NFL player then carried out his “peaceful civil disobedience” by rushing towards the council members before he was arrested and executed by police officers. He was later charged with disrupting a gathering.

A few days later, Kluwe appeared on CNN and he didn’t back down. of its position.

“I believe we are on the path taken by Nazi Germany under Hitler,” he said. “And I say that as a scholar of political science and history, as someone who has studied history. And the parallels are very, very clear.”

Kluwe announced he had been fired from his first-year coaching position on social media later that month.

“I just got fired after coaching freshman football, if you want to know what MAGA is doing to communities,” Kluwe wrote on BlueSky later in February. “They don’t care about what helps people, because the school certainly won’t find a former NFL player willing to coach there at that level, they only care about trying to hurt people.”

Kluwe later told CNN that the school fired him because the incident was “attracting too much attention.”

In September, Kluwe received even more backlash following his comments about the Charlie Kirk assassination.

The former punter sent an expletive-riddled message praising Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for rejecting the idea that Democratic rhetoric led to the assassination.

“Fuck at last. Fight the bull—the framing that tries to blame Democrats for everything. The GOP chooses to create this kind of societal environment. They could shut it down at any time. They have agency too. They’re not fucking children (except when, well, you know),” Kluwe wrote.

Kluwe sent a previous message suggesting that Kirk had created “the kind of society he lives in now.”

“It is possible to hold both of these things as true at the same time: 1) political violence is never an appropriate choice in a civilized society. 2) Charlie Kirk’s dream is to create exactly the type of society he currently lives in, as he says with his own mouth,” Kluwe wrote.

Shortly after the shooting, Kluwe sent a message apparently mocking Kirk for getting shot.

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Turning Point Action founder Charlie Kirk takes the stage during a Turning Point Action “United for Change” campaign rally for President Donald Trump at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24, 2024, while Oakland Raiders punter Chris Kluwe (5) participates in organized team activities at the Raiders practice facility in Alameda, California, May 20, 2013. (Getty Images/IMAGNE)

Regarding a news article reporting that Kirk had been shot, Kluwe wrote the caption: “ ‘Hahaha yes! That’s the rule!” ‘what is… .'”

Kluwe scored for the Minnesota Vikings from 2005-2012 after being drafted by UCLA.