Phil Robertson defended by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal jumped to the defense of Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, who was indefinitely suspended from the show Wednesday after making anti-gay comments.

In a statement, Bobby Jindal praised 67-year-old Phil Robertson and his family as “great citizens” of Louisiana state, where the lucrative show is filmed, and he slammed the “politically correct crowd” for criticizing his comments.

“I don’t agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV.  In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive,” Bobby Jindal said.

“But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views.  In fact, I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended.”

At first glance, the Indian-American convert to Roman Catholicism with a national political profile and Phil Robertson wouldn’t seem to be completely natural allies.

However, some conservative Christians are arguing that Phil Robertson, a self-described “Bible-thumper,” was singled out for expressing a religious belief that homos**uality is wrong.

Asked in an interview with GQ magazine what he believes in sinful, Phil Robertson replied: “Start with homos**ual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”

A&E said in a statement that Phil Robertson’s “personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community”.

Bobby Jindal was not the only prominent GOP political figure to weigh in on the controversy.

Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin expressed her support for Phil Robertson in a Facebook post.

“Free speech is an endangered species. Those “intolerants” hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us,” Sarah Palin said.

And Texas Senator Ted Cruz posted on his Facebook page that Americans should be “deeply dismayed” about Phil Robertson’s treatment.

“Phil expressed his personal views and his own religious faith; for that, he was suspended from his job,” Ted Cruz said.

“In a free society, anyone is free to disagree with him–but the mainstream media should not behave as the thought police censoring the views with which they disagree.”