Trump ‘asked’ Pence to walk out of Colts game
Exit revives issue of players’ protests during the anthem.
The plan had been for Vice President Mike Pence to attend the Indianapolis Colts game atwhich Peyton Manning’s number is to be retired, a gala celebration of the former Colts quarterback’s contributions to Pence’s home state.
The former governor of Indiana and his wife, wearing aManning No. 18 jersey, left Lucas Oil Stadium after the national anthem, following instructions from President Donald Trump after a number of San Francisco 49ers players took a knee during the anthem.
“I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled,” Trump tweeted. “I am proud of him and @ SecondLady Karen.”
Pence said he chose to leave because “we should rally around our Flag.”
“I left today’s Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem. At a time when so many Americans are inspiring our nation with their courage, resolve, and resilience, now, more than ever, we should rally around our Flag and everything that unites us,” he said in a statement. “While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don’t think it’s too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem. I stand with President Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem.”
Pence’s response appears to have been triggered by the decision of between 15 to 23 membersof the 49ers to take a knee during the anthem, as many NFL players have done to raise awareness of social injustice and racial inequality. Members of the Colts stood for the anthem with arms linked.
Colin Kaepernick, former quarterback for the 49ers, started the protests to raise awareness of social injustice and racial inequality in the summer of 2016. Pence’s decision comes at a time when Kaepernick has reiterated that, should an NFL team sign him, he would now stand for the anthem. Kae per nick had said as much when he became a free agent in March, explaining he did not want his protest to detract from the positive change he believes has been created, ESPNreportedthen. He added that the national conversation that ensuedlast year, as well as the support he received from NFL and NBA players, among others, affirmed his message.
Although players have stressed that the demonstrations are not meant to disparage military members of the anthem, Pence’s decision toleave revives the story.
Throughout this season, players have taken a knee. Theyhave linkedarms. Some have raised a defiant fist to the sky in the face of presidential directives to the owners of their teams to fire or suspend them. And as their season settles into the critical secondquarter, they have sought to pivot toward taking positive action and refining their message.
Away from Indianapolis, other players around the league, like Olivier Vernon of the New YorkGiants, continued to kneel Sunday, but most stood and linked arms asmany have acknowledged that that theirmessage was becoming misinterpreted, co-opted by somewhowere claiming it was aimed at military members rather than police brutality.
Their activism has taken root, downtothe high school level and over to the NBA. Although Trump cited declining TV ratings for the NFL, those have improved as the games have and as areas in Texas and Florida have begun to recover fromhurricane damage.