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'Fire or suspend': Trump attacks NFL protesters as players kneel in London NFL players kneel for anthem in unprecedented defiance of Trump
(about 4 hours later)
Donald Trump began Sunday with yet another attack on NFL players kneeling in protest of the national anthem. NFL players staged an unprecedented wave of protest on Sunday, beginning at Wembley Stadium in London, after Donald Trump maintained his attack on players who kneel in protest of the national anthem.
Shortly before his treasury secretary insisted the president was not picking a fight, Trump doubled down on his bellicose remarks from a rally in Alabama on Friday night. The president repeated his challenge to NFL team owners to “fire or suspend” any player who fails to stand and encouraged fans to stop attending games until the owners take action. It was a climactic day for a movement that began with a single backup quarterback kneeling before a pre-season game 13 months ago and has since prompted a nation to wrestle with questions of free speech and racial justice.
Colin Kaepernick, then with the San Francisco 49ers, kneeled in an attempt to provoke debate over race and police brutality. He is now without a team but active players have followed his example. On Saturday night, the protest spilled into baseball: the Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell kneeled during the anthem before a home game against the Texas Rangers.
Early on Sunday, shortly before his treasury secretary insisted the president was not picking a fight, Trump doubled down on his bellicose remarks at a rally in Alabama on Friday night. The president repeated his challenge to NFL team owners and encouraged fans to stop attending until the owners take action.
“If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back US.”“If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back US.”
Such protests began last season when the then San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled to highlight issues of racial injustice. On Saturday night, they spilled into another sport, baseball. The Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell kneeled during the anthem before a home game against the Texas Rangers. Wembley staged the day’s first game. Around 25 players from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens kneeled. The Guardian’s Sean Ingle reported that no white players appeared to kneel but “many players, coaches and even the Jaguars’ owner Shahid Khan linked arms instead as they stood, showing unity for their black team-mates against Trump”.
Trump’s tweets came at the outset of what was expected to be a day of protest across the NFL. At Wembley Stadium in London, the day’s first game duly saw around 25 players from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens kneel during the playing of the US anthem. Later, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, several Miami Dolphins players wore black T-shirts supporting Kaepernick before facing the New York Jets. During the anthem, the Dolphins locked arms. The Pittsburgh Steelers collectively decided to remain in the tunnel before their game against the Bears at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The Guardian’s Sean Ingle, covering the game, reported that no white players appeared to kneel but “many players, coaches and even the Jaguars’ owner Shahid Khan linked arms instead as they stood, showing unity for their black team-mates against Trump”. “We’re not going to play politics,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told CBS. “We’re not participating in the anthem today, not to be disrespectful to the anthem but to remove ourselves from the circumstance.
Trump made his initial remarks at a Friday night rally for Republican senator Luther Strange, who is running in a special election next week to remain in the seat vacated by attorney general Jeff Sessions. “People shouldn’t have to choose. If a guy wants to go about his normal business and participate in the anthem, he shouldn’t be forced to choose sides. If a guy feels the need to do something, he shouldn’t be separated from his team-mate who chooses not to.”
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” said Trump. Dozens more players either kneeled or locked arms before the 1pm kickoffs. Trump tweeted: “Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!”
“You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s going to say, ‘That guy that disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it [but] they’ll be the most popular person in this country. Trump made his initial remarks at a Friday night rally for the Republican senator Luther Strange. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” he said.
“But do you know what’s hurting the game more than that? When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they’re playing our great national anthem. The only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. He also complained about rules introduced to improve safety in the NFL, which has a serious problem with head injuries.
“I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore, anyway.” The president’s remarks and his withdrawal on Saturday of a White House invitation to the NBA-champion Golden State Warriors prompted a remarkably strong response. NBA great LeBron James called the president a “bum” while Buffalo Bills NFL running back LeSean McCoy called him an “asshole”.
Trump also complained about rules introduced to improve safety in the NFL, which has a serious problem with degenerative head injuries. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed disappointment with the “divisive” comments while the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a close friend of Trump, was among team owners to side with their players. In a statement, Kraft said he was “deeply disappointed” by Trump’s remarks.
The president’s remarks and his withdrawal on Saturday of a White House invitation to the NBA-champion Golden State Warriors prompted a remarkably strong response from leading professional athletes. NBA great LeBron James called the president a “bum” while Buffalo Bills NFL running back LeSean McCoy called him an “asshole”. “There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics,” Kraft said.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed disappointment with Trump’s “divisive” comments while the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a close friend of Trump, was among the team owners to side with their players. In a statement, Kraft said he was “deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the president”. In London, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said of his players and coaches: “We respect their demonstration and support them 100%.” Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, a shareholder in Arsenal, released a statement affirming his belief in his players’ “freedom to peacefully express themselves”.
“There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics,” Kraft said. “I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal.” White House officials mounted a defense of the president. Treasury secretary Stephen Mnuchin told CNN: “I don’t think it’s a question of a fight the president wants to have.” Trump was responding, he said, to “the NFL saying people should be able to decide what they want to do and disrespect the United States flag”.
In London, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said of the actions of his players and coaching staff: “We respect their demonstration and support them 100%.” “He thinks this is about respect for the military and so many people who put their lives at risk and what the country stands for … players have the right to free speech off the field. On the field this is about respect for lots of people.”
On Sunday, treasury secretary Stephen Mnuchin told CNN: “I don’t think it’s a question of a fight the president wants to have.” Trump was responding, he said, to “the NFL saying people should be able to decide what they want to do and disrespect the United States flag”. Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, told Fox News Sunday players had “a first amendment right” to protest but added: “NFL owners also have a right to fire those players.”
“He thinks this is about respect for the military and so many people who put their lives at risk and what the country stands for,” Mnuchin said. “For as long as I can remember people have stood in honor of the country. This isn’t about politics. If people want to talk politics off the field when they’re not working for the NFL, they have the absolute right to do that.” Speaking on the NFL Network, Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner struck out at critics who have characterized the protests as anti-military.
“This is not about Republicans or Democrats. Players have the right to free speech off the field. On the field this is about respect for lots of people.” “[The flag is] a symbol of the ideals of our great country: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Warner said. “The anthem: it’s a reminder to us of those things. The president of the United States, his role is to uphold and to fight for the rights of every person, every American. And so when I heard the comments, I was so disappointed because I believe [Trump’s] comments are completely contradictory to what the flag represents.
On Saturday, the former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, now with the University of Michigan Wolverines, branded Trump’s comments “ridiculous”, regarding the protection of free speech under the first amendment. “We have this narrative that these protests are contradictory to our flag and contradictory to our military. I don’t see them that way. I see them as complementary to the ideals to the flag, to the military and what they fought for.
“Check the constitution,” he said. “I have not heard one player that has not been more than grateful to our military. This isn’t about that at all. It’s about standing up for the ideals of the flag.”