President Trump said Wednesday the NFL’s business is in big trouble if the league doesn’t quickly require its players to stand for the national anthem.
“The NFL is in a very bad box. You cannot have people disrespecting our national anthem, our flag, our country,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House for Indiana. “That’s what they’re doing, and in my opinion, the NFL has to change, or you know what’s going to happen, their business is going to go to hell.”
“The NFL has to change,” Pres. Trump says, “Or their business is going to hell.” https://t.co/T5uqoA85rO pic.twitter.com/Vs04F9UJ7V— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 27, 2017
The president has railed against the NFL on Twitter over the last few days and during a speech in Alabama on Friday when he said team owners should fire players who kneel when the “Star-Spangled Banner” plays.
Trump also urged NFL fans to boycott games and called on the league to implement a new rule prohibiting players from taking a knee during the national anthem.
Many team owners, coaches, and players rebuked the president’s comments over the weekend. During Sunday and Monday night’s game, players took a knee during the national anthem, while others locked arms as a sign of unity against Trump’s comments.
Three teams waited in either the locker room or the tunnel until the national anthem ended before taking the field.
Trump said the NFL has had low ratings and is losing fans because of the anthem protests, and said many viewers are only tuning in to pre-game broadcasts to see if players kneel.
“I think the NFL is in a box. I think they’re in a really bad box,” he said. “You look at what’s happening with their ratings, you look at what’s going on, frankly the only thing that’s doing well with the NFL is the pregame because everyone wants to see what’s going on.”
