When will Trump stick to politics?
President keeps attacking NFL
MEXICO CITY – There aren’t many built like Marshawn Lynch. The Raiders running back is a physical specimen, Beast Mode personified, and was once the most feared foot soldier in the NFL.
Yet for all that, still a soft and easy target for President Trump.
Trump went off on Lynch on Monday morning using familiar weaponry, Twitter. He blasted the player’s decision not to stand for The Star-Spangled Banner at Estadio Azteca on Sunday before rising to his feet when the Mexican anthem was played.
“Marshawn Lynch of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders stands for the Mexican Anthem and sits down to boos for our National Anthem,” Trump wrote. “Great disrespect! Next time NFL should suspend him for remainder of season. Attendance and ratings way down.”
Trump’s social media outbursts often have a somewhat casual relationship with accuracy. There was no chorus of boos, and none at all that were audible from the press box situated behind the Raiders bench. In reality, barely anyone in the crowd seemed to notice.
Until Trump’s tweet on Monday morning, Lynch’s actions from the previous day were one of the least newsworthy things about the game, in which the Raiders were blown out by Tom Brady and the Patriots 33-8. It wasn’t a surprise Lynch sat. He’s done so before every game since returning to football this season.
By going after Lynch, Trump was able to rack up some cheap points with his base. An ESPN survey found that most white Americans dislike the NFL protests while most black Americans approve. Lynch was one of five players to protest on Sunday, with many apparently having been cowed into submission by the loud message sent by NFL owners in their continued snubbing of Colin Kaepernick.
It makes you wonder why Trump bothers at all. But he’s in the habit of it now and knows that commenting on such matters generates noise, which is why Trump continues to delve into sports and loves to grab the NFL by the politics.
Maybe he is confused by the two. Politics and sports — and the way we consume each of them — have flipflopped, seemingly quicker than it takes to fire off a 140- (or 280-) character salvo. It used to be that we rooted for our sports teams with monogamy, regardless of their flaws and shortcomings. A rival was just that, to be detested no matter how impressive his skills. Nowadays youngsters have allegiance to play- ers as much as teams, which is how you can spot shamrock green Kyrie Irving jerseys on a random night at the Staples Center.
Previously, our politicians were held to individual account, regardless of a voter’s party affiliation, and that each policy or action was judged on its merits. No longer. Washington’s reach has become so parochial that serving officials might as well wear red or blue jerseys with their names on the back. Any negative publicity, regardless of what has been said, tweeted or groped, is dismissed as media bias or fake news. No show of disloyalty is allowed.
Lynch hadn’t commented in response by midafternoon Monday, and, in truth, there is not a lot he can do. A minority athlete and already a polariz- ing figure, there will be some — many of them Trump supporters — who will have enjoyed seeing him targeted.
Sports are in Trump’s wheelhouse because the way we discuss them, in highlight-reel, bite-size chunks, is perfect for dominating the news cycle. Picking on Lynch, or sniping back at LaVar Ball by insisting he should have let the alleged UCLA sunglasses thieves remain in a Chinese jail, gets as much mainstream focus as trivial matters such as mounting nuclear tension with North Korea.
Lynch and Ball were punished for their supposed disrespect, with one man silently taking a knee and the other uttering “Who?” when asked about Trump’s supposed involvement in getting his son LiAngelo and other UCLA players released.
Those things were enough to get Trump’s fingers twitchy, although the president has so far been silent on the topic of politician Roy Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct against several women, including one who was 14 at the time.
These are the sports pages, so in case not everyone here is familiar, Moore is an Alabama candidate for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat and the race is significant as the Republicans hold only a slight majority in the … blah, blah blah.
Come on, stick to sports, you might say. Happy to, once the commander-inchief sticks to politics.