President Trump on Friday lashed out at pro football players who don’t stand during the national anthem – and urged team owners to remove those silent protesters from the field.
Trump, appearing at a campaign rally for US Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) said he wished NFL suits would take a hard-line stance against players who take a knee while “The Star-Spangled Banner” is played before kickoff.
“We’re proud of our country, we respect our flag,” Trump told supporters in Huntsville.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flag to say, `Get that son of a bitch off the field right now! Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!“
Trump then pranced around the stage, arms extended, to soak up wild applause from supporters chanting, “USA, USA, USA!”
Trump predicted that an NFL owner will take such action – although the league is arguably doing that already, by keeping former San Francisco 49ers quarterback.Colin Kaepernick off the field.
“You know some owner’s going to do that,” Trump said. “He’s going to say, `That guy who disrespects our flag, he’s fired!‘ ”
The president then went on to mock the NFL and its TV ratings which are “down massively, massively.”
Trump appeared to take credit for pro football’s declining TV popularity: “The No. 1 reason happen to be that they (TV viewers) like watching what’s happening with yours truly.”
The former USFL owner also whined that the NFL is doing too much to protect players from violent hits.
“If you hit too hard … 15 yards, throw him out of the game!” said Trump, the former New Jersey Generals owner. “They’re (refs and league officials) ruining the game, right?”