A new poll shows 62 percent of servicemembers and veterans think NFL players have the right to protest during a game, but almost 40 percent will stop watching games because of those protests.
The poll of 8,000 servicemembers and veterans who are also members of the non-partisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America showed there’s a variety of different thoughts about the protests in the military. The organization also conducted the poll.
Football fans have been split during the last year after then-San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem as a way to protest police brutality and racism.
According to the poll, 62 percent believe NFL players have the right to peacefully protest during games. Thirty-four percent disagree and four percent are unsure.
Of those polled, 39 percent will stop watching NFL games because of the protests, 26 percent will continue watching and attending games and support NFL players’ right to protest.
Fourteen percent will keep watching NFL games, but disagree with the protests; 9 percent are not NFL fans but support the protests; 9 percent won’t watch because they’re not NFL fans and don’t support the protests; and 3 percent have no opinion.
Those polls also generally disagree with the response to the protests by the main players. Forty-eight percent of those polled disagree with President Trump’s response, while 43 percent agree and 9 percent are unsure. Accordingly, 55 percent of those polled disagree with the NFL’s response and 28 percent agree.
The poll was done via email between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 and the margin of error is 1.1 percent.
