GAME ON AS TRUMP, PRO ATHLETES CLASH
President Trump sent shockwaves through the world of sports when he slammed the “son of a bitch” athletes who kneel during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice and disinvited the NBA champion Golden State Warriors from the White House, moves that set the stage for more on-field demonstrations today.
“Tell them to stand!” Trump tweeted last night after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell scolded the president for “divisive comments” he made at a packed political rally Friday in Alabama where he assailed the players who have been taking a knee during the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired,’ ” Trump said to a raucous round of applause.
The president, who called the protests a “total disrespect of our heritage ... of everything that we stand for,” predicted that an NFL owner is “going to say, ‘That guy that disrespects our flag, he’s fired,’ ” and that whoever does, will “be the most popular person for a week.”
In a statement yesterday, Goodell blasted Trump’s “divisive comments” and said they “demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.”
In a tweet, former Democratic Maryland U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards said she hopes all NFL players kneel during the anthem today and referred to Trump as a “white supremacist who squats in our White House.”
Patriots safety Devin McCourty, who sat out the team’s visit to the Trump White House, said the people who were quick to attack him and his like-minded teammates for not accepting the invite were nowhere to be found when the president launched epithets at them.
“I’m sure they are quiet about us being called ‘sons of bitches,’ ” McCourty tweeted.
Trump reprised his barbs yesterday in tweets that said well-paid NFL players should have to stand for the national anthem to keep their jobs.
“If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem,” Trump tweeted. “If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”
Trump’s ire wasn’t limited to football. On Friday, Golden State Warriors star and two-time MVP Steph Curry said he wouldn’t be making the customary champion’s visit to the White House, telling reporters: “I don’t want to go. That’s my nucleus of my belief.”
The comments prompted Trump to rescind his invitation.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” Trump tweeted.
And though House minority leader Nancy Pelosi responded by inviting them to the Capitol, the Warriors said in a statement yesterday that the team accepts that “President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited” and vowed to use a February trip to the nation’s capital “to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion — the values that we embrace as an organization.”