Phil Robertson Says NFL Players Who Kneel for National Anthem Were Never Taught 'Respect' by Fathers (Video)

Oct 24, 2017 01:09 PM EDT

"Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson said the NFL players who chose to protest during the playing of the national anthem are the product of the "disintegrating" American family, as they were likely never taught respect by their parents.

On Tuesday morning, the "Duck Commander" appeared on Fox and Friends to talk about his new show, "In the Woods With Phil." When asked about the premise, the reality star turned his attention to the subject of peaceful protest.

"Look, I'm 71. So far I've never seen anything big enough for me to protest," he said. "I have the right, you have the right to peaceably assemble and air your grievances. I'm 71, but so far nothing has risen to the level to make me go protest anything."

Host Brian Kilmeade then followed up with a question about whether or not America is turning into a "protest culture," to which Robertson responded, "My take on it is just because you can protest, doesn't mean that's a good reason to protest. 'Well I can so I have to do it.'"

When asked to share his thoughts on the national anthem protests seen in recent months, Robertson said, "Civics, I don't think, is even taught in school much anymore."

"Down where we're from, we take the Scriptures, we teach our children, we rebuke them, we correct them, we train them to do what is right from the time they're this high," he said, gesturing with his hand. "But if you miss that growing up, there's not a father figure there, or a father there, to instill that in their children, that's what's happened to America. Our families are all disintegrated."

Robertson said that every day, he and his wife, Miss Kay, sit down with people struggling with various drug addictions.

"They're on heroin, opioids, fentanyl - it's just one after the other after the other," he said. "She works with the women, I work with the men. Their faces are different, but their stories are all the same. That's all we do all the time. We ask them, 'How about your home life?' 98% broken homes, dad's gone, mom - so we just keep replaying it over and over."

"In the Woods with Phil," in which Robertson vows to reject "political correctness," premieres October 30.

"What does a man do when they try to run him out of town for quoting a Bible verse? I tell you what he does, he goes deep in the woods," Robertson is heard saying in a promotional video for the new series. "For far too long we have been told to shut up. No more. Here's the deal, America. These are my woods. Out here, I call the shots. Out here, we reject political correctness, or as I like to say, 'pontificated crap.'"

CRTV is a digital streaming network that costs $99 a year. Robertson will join commentators Mark Levin, Steven Crowder and Michelle Malkin on the network.