President Trump: Keeping Players In Locker Room During National Anthem Is As Bad As Kneeling
President Donald Trump has heard of the new idea by NFL owners to possibly keep teams in the locker room during the national anthem and believes it would be "almost as bad as kneeling."
"The NFL is now thinking about a new idea - keeping teams in the Locker Room during the National Anthem next season," Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning. "That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league!....."
In a report by the Washington Post on Tuesday, NFL owners are mulling a change to the national anthem policy that brought teams out to the field before games, if the protests continue. Players have been taking a knee, raising their fists, sitting on benches or staying in locker rooms to raise awareness for the social and racial injustices in the United States. Trump has been very critical of the demonstrations and called on the NFL to fire or suspend any player that protests. He most recently went after Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who sat during the Star-Spangled Banner but stood for the Mexican national anthem at a game in Mexico City. He called on the NFL to suspend Lynch for the rest of the season.
Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL has not disciplined any player who has protested during the national anthem.
