Former sports broadcaster turned political consultant Michele Tafoya is taking Michael Strahan at his word after the former Giants great was caught up in controversy when he didn’t put his hand over his heart during an NFL pregame show on Fox over the weekend.
Strahan broke his silence over the national anthem controversy in a video posted to Instagram, explaining he wasn’t protesting anything but had simply been “caught up in the moment.”
Tafoya posted on social media on Wednesday morning that she found the explanation “honest and heartfelt.”
“We wondered what was in the mind and heart of @michaelstrahan,” she wrote. “He told us, and (in my estimation) he was honest and heartfelt.”
Tafoya had served as a sideline reporter on “Sunday Night Football” from 2011-22 before leaving sports broadcasting and turning her attention to the political arena.
A day after she left sports media, she joined Republican Kendall Qualls’ campaign for Minnesota governor as campaign co-chair.
She has continued to make media appearances, discussing politics and culture.
She also hosts her own podcast.
The Strahan controversy began on Sunday while “Fox NFL Sunday” was broadcasting from a naval base in San Diego as part of an annual Veterans Day celebration the network’s pregame show does each year.
While the national anthem played, the camera panned to the Fox panel as they all held their hands over their hearts as it played, except for Strahan.
The image of Strahan created a firestorm online, despite Strahan’s support of veterans, veteran causes and the fact that his own father, Maj. Gene W. Strahan. Sr. served 23 years in the United States Army.
Strahan remained silent on the controversy until releasing the Instagram video days after it all first began and hours after he was confronted by a Daily Mail reporter outside his home on Tuesday.
“I have nothing to protest, I have no statement to be made,” Strahan said on Instagram. The only statement that should be made that I want to make is I love the military, I’ve always loved the military and I will always love the military. I do so many programs to help veterans and soldiers. I grew up on a military base with a father who was a major in the army. My brother, my sister, my cousins, they all served in the military — I’m a military brat.
“And so the fact of somebody saying that, you know, I’m unpatriotic, couldn’t be any further from the truth.”