On Friday night, President Trump was in Huntsville, Alabama for a campaign rally for Luther Strange, who is in a close runoff election for the GOP nomination for Senate. Well during his speech to the crowd, Trump made some choice words about the NFL when he criticized the team’s owners for allowing players who refuse to stand for the National Anthem to continue to play. Trump believes NFL owners should fire players for taking a knee during the “Star Spangled Banner.” While he didn't say Colin Kaepernick's name directly, it seems like he was talking about the unemoplyed QB.
"Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flags to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now! Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!'" Trump said, before pausing to soak up applause.
Later, Trump complained about how football isn't the same anymore, and that refs are ruining it by throwing flags for players who hit too hard. In other words, it sounds like Trump could care less about the CTE effect that the NFL is trying to protect.
"If you hit too hard… 15 yards, throw him out of the game!" said Trump. "They had that just last week... Two guys, just really beautiful tackle. Boom, 15 yards! The referee gets on television, his wife is sitting at home, she's so proud of him. They're ruining the game!” he added. “But you know whats hurt the game even more, when people like youselves turn on the televsion and see people taking the knee when they;re playing our great National Anthem. “
Lastly, Trump also suggested that if fans would "leave the stadium" when players kneel in protest during the national anthem things would stop., "I guarantee, things will stop.” “Its not the same game anymore anyway.”
Check out the clip of President Trump’s speech and read his entire thought process (below). Ive also included some tweets & thoughts from former & current NFL players who are siding with Kaepernick and not with Trump.
https://twitter.com/_/status/911403080348000262
https://twitter.com/_/status/911407752324567047
https://twitter.com/_/status/911406096409128960
https://twitter.com/_/status/911436509387132928
https://twitter.com/_/status/911432293964685312