Robert Kraft opposes dangerous lies, not free speech | Matt Calkins

Based on the way American attitudes have shifted toward a certain country in the Middle East, Robert Kraft likely lost a lot of fans with a recent decision.

But that doesn't mean it was the wrong decision.

Not in the least.

The Patriots' owner said Monday that Macklemore will be removed from two of Ed Sheeran's shows later this month at Gillette Stadium (which Kraft also owns) for what he deemed "hate speech" toward the Jewish community.

Macklemore has made no secret of how he feels about Israel, regularly using his platform to decry a "genocide" he falsely says is taking place in Gaza.

THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE.

DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW! His protest song "Hind's Hall" — in which he says former President Joe Biden has blood on his hands and that the music industry is "complicit" with its "silence" — is hardly subtle.

It celebrates the violent and illegal actions by students, faculty and outside activists on the campus of Columbia University.

And though some may accuse Kraft of launching an attack on free speech, I think he was saying something else: enough.

That takes a lot of spine when it's clear there will be backlash.

All of the other opening acts for Sheeran (not to mention his own band) quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, while Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denounced Kraft's choice as "censorship" against "the genocide in Gaza." Kraft has since pledged $2 million toward humanitarian aid in the Israel-Gaza region but he's held firm on his Macklemore ban.

Other owners have followed suit.

Good on them.

The genocide talk has to stop — because it has real consequences.