Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin called President Trump an “idiot” for saying NFL players who don’t stand for the national anthem “maybe … shouldn’t be in the country.”
“He’s an idiot, plain and simple,” Baldwin said Thursday at a news conference. “I mean, listen, I respect the man because he’s a human being, first and foremost. But he’s being more divisive, which is not surprising. It is what it is.”
“But for him to say anybody who doesn’t follow his viewpoints, or his constituent’s viewpoints should be kicked out of the country, it’s just not very empathetic,” he added. “It’s not very American-like, to me. It’s not very patriotic. It’s not what this country was founded upon. So it’s kind of ironic to me that the president of the United States is contradicting what our country is really built on.”
The comments came after Trump lauded the NFL for implementing a new policy earlier this week that demands players and team personnel stand on the sideline for the anthem or stay in the locker room for the duration of the song.
“You have to stand proudly for the national anthem,” Trump said in an interview that aired on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday. “You shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there. Maybe they shouldn’t be in the country. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem, and the NFL owners did the right thing.”
The new NFL policy also states each team has the authority to execute their own rules regarding the anthem, and that those who violate the league’s policy will be hit with fines.
“I think that the NFL really missed it this time,” Baldwin said.
