The White House on Tuesday defended its decision to replace a visit by the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles with an event celebrating the American flag, after President Trump chided the team for allegedly refusing to stand for the national anthem.
Trump announced late Monday that he would instead host a “Celebration of America” in the Rose Garden the following afternoon because the Super Bowl champions were “unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated,” according to a statement. The decision marked the second time Trump has rescinded an invitation to a major professional sports team in response to a lack of interest among players.
But on Tuesday, White house press secretary Sarah Sanders said the Eagles were to blame for the sudden change to the event’s format. She claimed the team notified the White House last Friday that “many players” would no longer be attending the event and asked to reschedule it.
“The White House, despite sensing a lack of good faith, nonetheless attempted to work with the Eagles over the weekend to change the event format that could accommodate a smaller group of players. Unfortunately, the Eagles offered to send only a tiny handful of representatives, while making clear that a great majority of players would not attend the event, despite planning to be in D.C. today,” Sanders said.
“In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans,” she added.
Sanders told reporters during the White House briefing that the decision was “certainly not meant to be a slight to anyone,” including Pennsylvania voters who supported the president in 2016 but may be frustrated by the rescinded invitation to their home team.
Sanders also declined to say whether Trump was aware that not a single Eagles player knelt during the national anthem in the regular season or playoffs, despite the president’s earlier claim that the team backed out of its White House visit because of his stance on protests during the anthem.
“His position hasn’t changed on this throughout the process and the position was very clearly stated in a number of forums and venues,” Sanders said. “The Eagles made the decision to come…. well after the president established his feelings on the National Anthem.”
According to ESPN, the Eagles didn’t learn their event had been canceled until the White House released its initial statement Monday night. The network also reported that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had planned to send fewer than 10 players to meet with the president and celebrate their Super Bowl win in order to avoid putting others in an uncomfortable situation.
[Also read: NFL players union ‘disappointed’ by Trump’s decision to snub the Philadelphia Eagles]
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, later extended an invitation for the team to tour the U.S. Capitol. “I’m proud of what the Eagles accomplished this year. I’m skipping this political stunt at the White House and just invited the Eagles to Congress,” he tweeted.
It is unclear what Tuesday’s “Celebration of America” event will consist of, beyond performances by the U.S. Marine Corps Band. A White House official did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
