Trump says NFL shouldn't open if its players don't stand for national anthem: 'You have to respect your flag'
President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, August 11, again slammed the National Football League (NFL) for players protesting police brutality and systemic racism during the national anthem and said that he hopes "they don't open". The Republican, in his statement to conservative Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis, also argued in favor of proceeding with the 2020 college football season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"I would say this, if they don't stand for the national anthem I hope they don't open," Trump said of the upcoming NFL season. "But other than that I would love to see them open and we're doing everything possible for them getting them open. They can protest in other ways. They shouldn’t protest our flag or our country.”
The president also said that he had discussions with the NFL team owners about the protests. "They know my feelings very well. They’ve been expressed,” Trump chuckled and added that he was disappointed to see anthem protests when NBA and MLB returned. "I did not like what baseball did, even a little bit," the Republican said. “I think it’s been horrible for basketball. Look at the basketball ratings. They’re down to very low numbers... People are angry about it."
Trump suggested that the fans of these games were turning away from the particular sport because of an increase in politics. "They have enough politics with guys like me. They don’t need more as they’re driving down, going up for a shot. They don’t need it. There’s a nastiness about the NBA, the way it was done too, so I think the NBA is in trouble,” Trump said.
The president, who has been consistently critical of the anthem protests, reiterated that he wished every athlete would stand up for the national anthem. "You have to stand for your flag, and you have to respect your flag and your country,” he said.
The Republican, last month, had taken to Twitter to question NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's claims that the league was wrong to oppose Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protest. Trump, instead, had insisted that kneeling for the national anthem was still "disrespectful". The Republican's statement came two days after Goodell released a video on NFL's official Twitter page on June 4, where he expressed regret for not listening to the league's players earlier who were protesting against police brutality. The NFL chief, in his statement, also encouraged the league's players to peacefully protest from now on.
"Could it be even remotely possible that in Roger Goodell’s rather interesting statement of peace and reconciliation, he was intimating that it would now be OK for the players to KNEEL, or not to stand, for the National Anthem, thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?" Trump, in a tweet, had asked.
The NFL chief's apology came shortly after some of the league's players, including Saquon Barkley, Patrick Mahomes and Odell Beckham Jr released a powerful video on Thursday, June 4, demanding the league to release a statement condemning racism and admit to silencing players like Colin Kaepernick from peacefully protesting. Goodell, in his response to the video, stated: "Protests around the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality, and oppression of black players, coaches, fans and staff. I will be reaching out to players who have raised their voices and others on how we can improve."