Trump on NFL Return: 'If They Don't Stand for the National Anthem, I Hope They Don't Open'
President Donald Trump’s never been a fan of anthem kneeling.
If the National Football League decides to fully support the Black Lives Matter movement upon its return to play, he’ll no longer be a fan of the NFL, either.
During a Tuesday morning interview with Outkick’s Clay Travis, Trump said that while he wants the NFL to return, if the league decides to disrespect the flag, he would rather that they don’t come back.
“Mr. President, what do you hear about the NFL? I know there’s been a lot of talk, you mentioned that you talked to several different owners, [New England Patriots owner] Bob Kraft in particular, how confident are you that come September 10, with the scheduled opener between the Texans and the Chiefs, that the NFL will be underway and everybody out there who is an NFL fan will be able to watch?” Travis asked the president.
“Well, they want to open and they want to open badly and they’ve been working with government,” Trump responded. “I would say this, if they don’t stand for the national anthem, I hope they don’t open.
“But other than that I’d love to see them open and we’re doing everything possible for getting them open. They can protest in other ways, they shouldn’t protest our flag or our country.”
Travis then asked whether Trump has spoken with owners about his desire for players to stand for the national anthem. Trump responded with a chuckle.
“They know my feelings very well,” he said. “They’ve been expressed.”
The president went on to condemn other sports leagues for adopting former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s disrespectful form of protesting.
“I think it’s been horrible for basketball. Look at the basketball ratings they’re down. They’re down to very low numbers. Very, very low numbers. People are angry about it. They don’t realize … they have enough politics with guys like me,” Trump told Travis.
He praised ice hockey, which has largely avoided the controversy, but Trump also took a swing at Major League Baseball.
“I did not like what baseball did, even a little bit. And again, you have to stand for your flag and you have to respect your flag and your country. You’re making millions of dollars a year to be playing a sport you’d be playing anyway …
“They have to respect their country and if they don’t, frankly, if the NFL didn’t open, I’d be very happy, if they don’t stand for the flag and stand strongly. I would be very happy if they didn’t open.”
“With that being said, I’d love to see them open,” the president added.
The interview is below. The NFL segment runs from about the 2:30 mark to the 4:45 mark.
Attitudes on kneeling for the anthem have changed greatly since Colin Kaepernick first decided to protest the supposed prevalence of race-based police brutality.
The Marxist Black Lives Matter movement seems to have taken hold of the sports world, with more and more players deciding to throw in their lot with the anti-American leftists who seek to destroy the foundational institutions of American society.
Thankfully, Trump isn’t the only American who is sick and tired of privileged players disrespecting the anthem all for a cause based on lies.
Ratings for the NBA and MLB plummeted after the two leagues began their social justice pandering on returning from the coronavirus lockdown.
Similarly, the NFL ratings dropped precipitously back in 2018 when anthem kneeling was first becoming a thing.
If sports leagues want to play this game, they are going to have to deal with the fact that consumers aren’t going to choose to watch a bunch of virtue-signaling millionaires preaching about how America is a racist country.
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