President Donald Trump has "given me my freedom of speech back," said Papa John's founder John Schnatter.
"I forever have to honor and respect and admire what Trump has done for the entrepreneur that has a voice as a conservative," Schnatter told Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show."
"He's given me my freedom of speech back. He's given me my liberty back. And I'm indebted for the rest of my life, because now I can go out and speak my mind — of course, in a constructive way.
"And I can live my life without the fear of retaliation from the government. He weaponized the government and they weaponized the media. And when you're conservative and you have notoriety and influence, you get attacked," he said.
Schnatter stepped down as chairman of Papa John's board in 2018 after apologizing for using the n-word in a corporate conference call to characterize a fast food competitor’s references to Black people.
His resignation came months after he had quit as CEO in the wake of controversial remarks concerning the National Football League's handling of national anthem protests.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had kneeled during the anthem to protest what he said was police mistreatment of Black men, and other players started kneeling as well.
"The controversy is polarizing the customer, polarizing the country," Schnatter said during a conference call about the company's earnings in November 2017.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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