After a Sunday filled with tweets from Donald Trump decrying the protests across the NFL, which he helped galvanize, CNN is reporting that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly isn’t pleased with his boss. Again. The report states that Trump went off-script at the Alabama rally in which he called for NFL owners to fire protesting NFL players that are protesting, punctuating the point by saying: “get that son of a bitch off the field.” This led to more disappointment from Kelly, who, according to the report “voiced his concern on the matter.”
This latest reported frustration from Kelly follows his disagreement in Trump saying there were “many fine people on both sides” of the Charlottesville white supremacist rally which led to one counter-protester being murdered. It also comes after Trump’s off-the-cuff UN speech that was full of incendiary remarks, promising North Korea a violent end and calling Kim Jong-un “Rocket Man.”
The John Kelly reaction really works for anything Trump says. pic.twitter.com/ClgtQzsFGD
— Half An Onion 🧅 (@HalfOnionInABag) September 23, 2017
Trump, however, is calling the report “fake news.” In a series of tweets made just after the report was released on Monday, he spoke for Kelly, saying the two men were in agreement on the matter of NFL players protesting against police brutality.
.@CNN is #FakeNews. Just reported COS (John Kelly) was opposed to my stance on NFL players disrespecting FLAG, ANTHEM, COUNTRY. Total lie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017
General John Kelly totally agrees w/ my stance on NFL players and the fact that they should not be disrespecting our FLAG or GREAT COUNTRY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017
Tremendous backlash against the NFL and its players for disrespect of our Country.#StandForOurAnthem🇺🇸
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017
There is still no word on whether Trump understands why the players are protesting (police brutality). In July, he called for police to be “not too nice” to suspected criminals, and his administration has also proposed cuts to domestic violence programs. Police officers are more likely to be killed on domestic violence calls than any other domestic call.
(Via CNN)