Welcome to the club, Marshawn
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday added Marshawn Lynch to the list of sports figures he has criticized on Twitter.
Lynch has been regularly sitting during the national anthem this season and did so again when his Oakland Raiders played the New England Patriots in Mexico City on Sunday. Lynch then stood, though not at attention, during the playing of the Mexican anthem.
Trump’s first tweet of the day Monday took Lynch and the National Football League to task: “Marshawn Lynch of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders stands for the Mexican Anthem and sits down to boos for our National Anthem. Great disrespect! Next time NFL should suspend him for remainder of season. Attendance and ratings way down.”
Trump’s tweet came at 6:25 a.m. Monday. Shortly after 6, “Fox and Friends” had broadcast a report on Lynch’s actions.
Trump has regularly criticized NFL players for not standing for the anthem this season. Generally, though, he has avoided singling out players by name.
“Two dozen NFL players continue to kneel during the national anthem, showing total disrespect to our Flag & Country. No leadership in NFL!” he tweeted last month.
U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence walked out of an Indianapolis Colts game before it started last month when some players did not stand for the anthem.
Lynch was seen wearing Tshirt reading “Everybody vs. Trump” before a game in October. On Sunday, he wore cleats with a Mexican flag theme.
Both anthems were cheered at the game. Giant flags of both nations were unfurled to cheers of the crowd, which included a significant number of Americans.
The NFL has said it prefers that players stand for the anthem, but has not taken any disciplinary action against those who choose not to.
On Sunday, Trump went after LaVar Ball, the father of one of the UCLA players who were detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting.
Apparently angry that Ball had played down Trump’s role in the players’ release, the president went so far as to suggest that they should have been left in a Chinese prison.
“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal,” Trump wrote.
“I should have left them in jail!”