President Trump shows no sign of letting up on his criticism of NFL players who protest during the national anthem, reopening a rift over the athletes kneeling as the “Star-Spangled Banner” plays and drawing criticism for his handling of the racially charged issue.
Some Republican figures hailed Trump’s comments about the NFL as a welcome salvo against what critics have characterized as an insult to the country inflicted by several players, beginning with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016, through their decision to kneel on the field during the national anthem. But some observers saw the dust-up as another instance in which the president perpetuated racial divisions and targeted minority individuals in an effort to rile up a base that is sympathetic to such attacks.
Trump’s emphasis on a handful of NFL players who have knelt during the national anthem in order to protest racially motivated police brutality began Friday, when he called on team owners to fire any “son of a bitch” who “disrespects our flag.” It continued over the weekend when he fired off a half-dozen tweets aimed at encouraging fans to tune out the games until all players stood during the “Star-Spangled Banner” and reached a fever pitch Monday when White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said players should protest the officers protecting them rather than the flag if the root of their frustration was truly with the police.
“It’s a winning issue for his base — and a losing issue for most everyone else,” Lee Carter, a Republican pollster, told the Washington Examiner. “He is laser-focused on his core base, and it shows at every turn — from Merry Christmas to his stance on the statues — and now to this.”
Carter was referring to Trump’s argument during the campaign that people should not shy away from using “Merry Christmas” as a greeting during the winter holidays solely out of sensitivity for minority religions. She was also referring to Trump’s push last month to spare some historical monuments from a liberal movement to remove statues with links to slavery or past racism.
“But look at the results. What are we talking about today? The NFL, not North Korea. Taking a knee, not healthcare,” Carter added. “When the president takes a strong and provocative stand, it stirs a debate. This is a man with a high threshold for conflict. And that is something we aren’t used to seeing in our politicians.”
Trump’s focus this week on football drama has indeed diverted attention away from the two most significant issues unfolding at home and abroad. Although the North Korean government accused Trump on Monday of declaring war against the regime and the Republicans’ effort to repeal Obamacare in Congress grew increasingly uncertain, Sanders fielded more questions about the NFL during her press briefing on Monday than any other single topic.
And the controversial protests, which escalated Sunday as players across the league knelt or remained in their locker rooms during the anthem, continued into Monday night with a rash of new protests.
Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist, suggested the weekly game schedule could keep Trump engaged with the debate over NFL demonstrations on a regular basis.
“I think he’s going to speak where appropriate, but every week, there’s another game,” Blakeman said. “And if it escalates, I’m sure he’s going to speak out on it and you know, fans may have their own response.”
Blakeman said he agrees with the premise of Trump’s decision to go after NFL players and argued the protestors’ credibility is hurt by the lack of clarity about what they are actually protesting.
“If you have problems with cops, if that’s who your grievances [are] against, then why do it in this way?” Blakeman said. “If it’s something else, I mean, who are you mad at? Is it the fans? Is it the entire nation? What’s the beef? And is this the proper way to protest?”
Fans become “forced participants” in the protests when they make time to watch or attend games that open with a slight against the national anthem, Blakeman added.
Many fans have found the intense scrutiny of the protests Kaepernick started last year off-putting, and some have tuned out football as a result. A survey conducted by J.D. Power this summer found the national anthem protests were the most-cited reason viewers provided for why they watched fewer games last season, for example. Ratings were reportedly high for “Monday Night Football” after a full weekend of debate.
Some observers wondered whether Trump’s tirades against the national anthem controversy could backfire, however, by turning the spotlight on himself and obscuring the original reasons for Kaepernick’s kneeling.
A poll conducted by Reuters in Sept. 2016 showed 61 percent of Americans said they did not agree with Kaepernick’s method of protest, which 72 percent of people described as unpatriotic. Most, however, agreed that Kaepernick’s free speech rights shielded his ability to kneel during the national anthem.
By casting blame on the league for failing to force an end to the kneeling, Trump may have transformed an unpopular protest of police into a broader demonstration against himself and his policies and spread the movement to dozens more players than had ever knelt during the national anthem before he began criticizing the practice.
“Like everything the president does, this has some risk to it,” said John Feehery, a GOP strategist. “I think his base loves it, the elites hate it, and most people in the middle wish it would go away.”
Feehery warned that the foray into such a polarizing issue may not be a “long-term winner” for the White House, but noted it could serve as “an effective short-term distraction.”
Even so, Trump has a number of legislative items his administration had hoped to tackle in the short term, and like his other Twitter-induced distractions, the intrigue surrounding his NFL feud could give skittish congressional Republicans pause about signing on to his agenda.
“I don’t know how this helps him cut taxes,” Feehery said.
The president has also struggled to move past the firestorm he caused last month by making comments about racial violence in Charlottesville, Va., that many interpreted as inappropriate. Some critics have questioned why Trump has seemingly gone after professional football players with more intensity than he went after the white supremacists who killed a woman in Charlottesville, for example.
