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Donald Trump.
- President Trump has reignited his feud with the NFL, criticizing a proposed solution to the league's ongoing protests from players.
- In a tweet early Wednesday morning, Trump called out the "highly paid Commissioner" and told him to get "tough and smart."
President Donald Trump rekindled his feud with the NFL on Wednesday morning in an early morning tweet calling out both the league and its commissioner.
"The NFL is now thinking about a new idea - keeping teams in the Locker Room during the National Anthem next season. That's almost as bad as kneeling!" the president tweeted. "When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league!....."
Trump's comments on the league and its commissioner come in the midst of ongoing negotiations between Roger Goodell and the NFL, and a looming legal battle with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Trump had previously criticized the ongoing player protests of police brutality and systemic racism during the national anthem, and called players that participated in such efforts "sons of b------" that deserved to be fired, inspiring players and owners alike to respond with widespread protests the following Sunday. While his furor with the players seemed to have died down in recent weeks, he brought back his war with the league this past weekend after Marshawn Lynch sat out the anthem, but stood for the Mexican anthem while playing in Mexico City.
In his latest outburst, President Trump's anger with the idea of keeping players in their locker rooms for the national anthem is somewhat confusing. First and foremost, that's what happens at almost every college football game in the country - teams stay in their locker rooms, the home team's marching band plays the anthem and the welcomes the team into the stadium. Trump claims that it's "almost as bad as kneeling!" but has not said anything regarding the prominence of this set up week after week on Saturdays.
Additionally, the NFL had not required players to appear on the sidelines for the anthem before games until 2009. No one found the players' absence disrespectful to the anthem back then, at least not to the point of public outcry. Should the NFL choose not to require players to be present on the sidelines for the anthem, it would be a reversion to a previous policy, not something radically new.
Regardless of how the process plays out, chances are President Trump will have something to say about it, and he'll let the American public know his feelings through his Twitter account. Since his return from his trip to Asia, Trump has been on something of a tear of sports tweets, and has shown no signs on slowing.