WASHINGTON (AP) – With his attacks on activist athletes, President Donald Trump plunged into the middle of his favorite kind of drama – personal, aggressive, culturally volatile and entirely of his own making.
For three days, the provocateur president has drawn criticism from the worlds of politics and sports for saying that football players who kneel during the national anthem should be fired. The conflict peaked Sunday with Trump’s remarks, which had the effect of uniting a newly minted opposition coalition that included a growing number of players and coaches, as well as some owners who have backed the president.
Late Sunday, Trump continued to defend the scrap – which prompted about 200 players to stand, kneel or raise their fists during the national anthem at games – telling reporters in New Jersey that kneeling was “very disrespectful to our flag and to our country” and that “owners should do something.”
Trump also offered his own take on the players and coaches who chose to lock arms on the field during the anthem, describing it as a display of “solidarity” that he approved of. And he pushed back against the suggestion that his critique could inflame racial tensions, arguing: “I never said anything about race.”
After a week dealing with weighty international issues at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump seemed to relish the moment, which he started with comments at a rally Friday night and continued on Twitter throughout the weekend. In addition to attacks on NFL players, he also rescinded a White House invitation for basketball player Stephen Curry, a star player on the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.