CNN political commentator Angela Rye suggested Tuesday the national anthem itself is “problematic,” while responding to a report President Trump plans to continue complaining about national anthem protests during the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections.
“The national anthem is problematic in and of itself,” Rye said during a panel discussion on the cable news network.
“There’s a second verse that Colin Kaepernick brought attention to that has yet to be discussed on broad platforms,” she continued, incorrectly referencing the verse.
[Related: Trump disinvites Eagles from Super Bowl celebration at White House over national anthem protest]
In the third verse of Francis Scott Key’s poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” on which the anthem is based, the lawyer wrote of the killing of Colonial Marines, a unit comprised of escaped slaves recruited by the British forces during the War of 1812 to take on the American militia for the freedom of enslaved people.
Rye on Tuesday added that player demonstrations during the anthem would not dissipate until the matter of police brutality was addressed by the White House.
[Also read: NFL owners vote to change national anthem rule, will allow teams to set own player policies]
“The bottom line is we have an opportunity to say, ‘This is something that’s bothering me and until this country serves me the same way that it serves so many other people, I have a right to protest.’ And you should pay attention to what those issues are if you’re a real leader,” Rye stated.
Two sources told CNN on Tuesday that Trump wants to keep outrage about the protests in voters’ “bloodstream” in the hope that it will help Republicans in November.
