President Donald Trump, in his first media opportunity since his initial tirade regarding the NFL Friday, said his comments had “nothing to do with race.”
Donald Trump says his comments on NFL player protest ‘have nothing to do with race’
“I never said anything about race,” he said. “This has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag.”
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Before boarding Air Force One in Morristown, N.J., the president spoke for three minutes about several topics, but mostly focused on the NFL.
“It’s very disrespect to our flag and to our country, so I certainly think the owners should do something about it,” Trump said when asked if protesting players should be fired.
“There was great solidarity, I watched a little bit – I was not watching the games today, believe me, I was doing other things -- but I watched a little bit and I will say that there was tremendous solidarity for our flag and for our country.”
At a rally in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday, in what was supposed to be a speech in support of Luther Strange’s senatorial campaign, Trump spoke at length about player protests, declining ratings in the league, and player safety.
Trump asserted that the players protesting before the game should be removed from the field. Furthering that rhetoric, Trump referred to players who protest, most whom are black, as “that son of a bitch.” The President continued to double down and said team owners should fire the protesters and would gain notoriety for doing so.
“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!’” Trump said. “You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s gonna say, ‘That guy disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it. They don’t know it. They’re friends of mine, many of them. They don’t know it. They’ll be the most popular person, for a week. They’ll be the most popular person in the country.”
Trump’s comments took aim at a private business, dictating what should be done with the employees of the company, and was a direct shot to owners of the league who donated millions to help get Trump elected.
One of Trump’s closer friends in the league, Robert Kraft, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the president’s comments. Trump addressed that on Sunday.
“Look, that’s okay. He has to take his ideas and go with what he wants. I think it’s very disrespectful to our country. I think it’s very, very disrespectful to our flag,” Trump said of Kraft.
“I like Bob very much, we’re friends -- he gave me a Super Bowl ring a month ago, right? -- so he’s a good friend of mine, and I want him to do what he wants to do, but we have a great country, we have great people representing our country, especially our soldiers, our first responders, and they should be treated with respect, and when you get on your knee and you don’t respect the American flag or the anthem, that’s not being treated with respect.”
Though the player protests in the league have consistently been presented as a dissent with the way the country has handle police brutality and systemic injustice, the president has continued to speak about the American flag — an object that’s never been mentioned as a motivation for NFL protests.
The fact that Trump attacked a protest that has primarily been led by black players led a reporter to ask on Sunday if he was inflaming racial tensions.
Trump said, however, he doesn’t quite see it that way.
“This has nothing to do with race,” he said. “I never said anything about race. This has nothing to do with race or anything else. This has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag.”
Arriving in Washington before 6:00 pm Sunday night, Trump continued to clarify his statements from the weekend. The president said that he was no longer calling for a boycott of the NFL, the opposite of what he tweeted over the weekend.
Trump reiterated he felt “very strongly” about the country needing to be respected, that is, to his definition of respect. Trump did differ, however, when discussing NFL players’ First Amendment rights.
“They have rights. We all have rights. But when you’re on that field, and, you know, there’s a situation going on, this is a great, great country, and we have a great flag, and they should respect our flag,” Trump said. “They’re making a lot of money. I’m not begrudging anything. I’m just saying they have to respect our flag, and they have to respect our country.”
Not distancing himself from his initial comments, however, he did continue saying there was a lack of respect in the NFL and that, as a result, this was the reason the league’s ratings were down, another statement this weekend that was not based in fact.
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