Trump declares 'game is over for me' if players take a knee after SF Giants protest at MLB game
A day after San Francisco Giants' players knelt during the national anthem ahead of their exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics, President Donald Trump reiterated his stance against players demonstrating the specific form of protest, stressing on the fact that each time he witnesses a player taking a knee "the game is over for me."
"Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!," Trump tweeted on Tuesday, July 21. Although he did not mention by name, it seemed like he was aware of the fact that Giants manager Gabe Kapler and several players, including right fielder Jaylin Davis, as well as, first base coach Antoan Richardson, knelt during the anthem at Oakland Coliseum.
After the game, Kapler said that none of the players were forced to take a knee during the anthem and were encouraged take any stance that they wanted and that they would have the full support of the franchise. He personally said that he wanted to use the platform to protest against "systemic racism" in America and the way it has been handled. His comments came in the wake of countrywide protests and riots over the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
"I wanted them to know that I wasn't pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality and I told them I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the Black community and marginalized communities as well," he was quoted as saying, Newsweek reported. "So I told them that I wanted to use my platform to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with the way we've handled racism in our country. I wanted to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with our clear systemic racism in our country and I wanted them to know that they got to make their own decisions and we would respect and support those decisions. I wanted them to feel safe in speaking up."
Several NFL players have pledged to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement currently raging in the nation, emulating the manner of protest started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016. The gesture has since developed into a political debate in the four years since Kaepernick first took a knee, with Trump frequently condemning those who tried to follow in Kaepernick's footsteps.
Last month NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a video in which he encouraged players to "protest peacefully' and acknowledged that the league should have done more in the past to stand for Black players and their calls for justice. At the time, Trump rebuked Goodell, taking words out of context and suggesting that he was supportive of players kneeling during the national anthem.
"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 O.K. for the players to KNEEL, or not to stand, for the National Anthem, thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?" he tweeted.
In a separate tweet he added: "We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag - NO KNEELING!"