Sports

Jason Whitlock Apologizes After Comparing Scottie Scheffler Arrest To George Floyd: ‘I Was Wrong’

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Scottie Scheffler walks the course during the PGA Championship.

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Jason Whitlock angered golf fans this past weekend with his commentary on Scottie Scheffler’s bizarre arrest at the PGA Championship. The divisive sports talk host was heard time and time again saying that had Scheffler simply complied with officers at the scene, the situation would’ve been avoided.

Now that new video footage of the incident has been made public, he’s changing his tune. “I was wrong,” he wrote on X, admitting that he jumped the gun!

The world’s No. 1 golfer was cuffed and booked by the Louisville Metro Police Department on Friday morning as he made his way to Valhalla Golf Club. Attempting to move past the scene of a fatal accident outside of the venue, Scheffler drove around officials to enter the grounds as all competitors were instructed to do, per reports.

Rather than be escorted into the club, he was stopped and given a quick trip to the station.

While no body cam footage of the arrest seems to exist, new footage from the LMPD has since been released.

That video shows an officer chasing Sheffler’s vehicle down as he drove through the venue gates, beating on the window, and yanking the golfer out of the car. The clip seems to differ greatly from the accounts initially given in a police report, which suggested that the officer was dragged to the ground in his attempt to slow Scheffler down.

Jason Whitlock now looks foolish for his premature take on the situation.

When the arrest initially occurred, Whitlock immediately blamed Scheffler as opposed to the authorities. At the time, most believed his detainment to be an overreaction in a situation that could’ve easily been avoided.

The sports host saw things differently…

He doubled down on that opinion a number of times in his replies to followers, believing the golfer to be in the wrong while suggesting that he’d purposely defied police instruction due to his status as a PGA star.

Had he simply followed instructions he would’ve been treated like every other player.

Jason Whitlock went as far as to compare the situation to that of George Floyd’s death in what was maybe his most controversial take on the interaction.

The rhetoric is nothing new for the right-wing personality, who often makes extreme claims to drive engagement. His showing support of law enforcement isn’t the issue, it’s the way he went about it.

Surprisingly, Whitlock admitted to his failure after seeing the most recent footage of the arrest.

Maybe he learned a lesson in his jump to conclusions.