Donald Trump, an expert on failed professional football leagues, says that national anthem protests are “killing” the National Football League. Between tweets antagonizing notable basketball father LaVar Ball for not thanking him enough for apparently solving an international incident, Trump addressed the oft-acknowledged anthem protests that have made news in the NFL this season.
Trump himself sparked many of the protests after he was critical of athletes in a number of ways, starting by calling Colin Kaepernick a “son of a bitch,” then Steph Curry after he said he would decline a hypothetical invite to visit the White House with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. It spiraled out of control from there, but Trump has been adamant that the athletes, not him, are out of touch.
On Wednesday, he once more commented on the situation, addressing an apparent rumor that NFL teams are considering staying in the locker room before games to eliminate opportunity for athletes to protest.
The NFL is now thinking about a new idea – keeping teams in the Locker Room during the National Anthem next season. That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league!…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2017
“The NFL is now thinking about a new idea – keeping teams in the Locker Room during the National Anthem next season,” Trump said.”That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league!…..”
Despite his continued difficulties with punctuation, it’s not hard to see where all this is coming from and why. Trump is going to bring up this controversy as often as possible because it’s something he’s realized his base supports him in. In Trump’s mind, athletes should know their place and the only message that should be spread during the anthem is patriotism. Which means that Trump will be talking sports on Twitter until athletes fall in line. In other words, get ready for a lot more Trump takes on the NFL in the future.
