Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted from Saturday evening’s hurricane relief charity concert event, where all five living ex-presidents were in attendance, noting that “everyone stood” for the national anthem.
“God bless!”, he added.
Everyone stood as one for national anthem at @TAMU with 5 ex-Presidents for hurricane relief. God bless! @AmericaAppeal #TexasStrong pic.twitter.com/TwjFmBRelq
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 22, 2017
The event, titled “Deep from the heart: The One American Appeal,” is taking place in Cruz’s home state in the Reed Arena at Texas A&M University, and features a slew of musical performances.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, who was in a wheelchair, and Jimmy Carter were in attendance, along with the former first ladies. President Trump also taped a video message for the event.
Cruz’s tweet also draws attention to the ongoing controversy of NFL players who are kneeling in protest of police brutality and racial injustice against African Americans and other minorities. Trump reignited the matter he called on NFL team owners last month to fire those players who don’t stand during the national anthem. Critics of the demonstrations say the players are disrespecting the American flag.
The NFL announced last week that it has no plans to penalize players who kneel, though league commissioner Roger Goodell said that they “should” stand.
