President Trump said NFL fans should stop going to football games until players who kneel during the national anthem are suspended or fired.
“If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” Trump tweeted.
He later added, “NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away beause (sic) they love our country. League should back U.S.”
If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
…NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
Trump has been tweeting about sports this weekend. First, he disinvited Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry from the White House because Curry was reportedly wavering on whether he wanted to go to celebrate the team’s championship. That led to the entire Warriors team deciding not to go to the White House.
Later, Trump kept up a line of thought he originally debuted in a rally for Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., on Friday when he called players who kneel during the national anthem a “son of a bitch.”
Trump then tweeted throughout Saturday about the protests.
The tweets come as Trump is trying to shepherd a last-gasp attempt at overhauling the Affordable Care Act through the Senate, which must be done by Sept. 30, and as North Korea continues to threaten the United States with promises of destruction.
Trump is a failed football owner, having owned the New Jersey Generals in the USFL, a football league that started during the 1980s and eventually went bankrupt. Trump was an advocate of that league competing directly against the NFL, a decision that is widely blamed for causing the league’s failure.
