‘Many people booed’: Trump again bashes NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem

President Donald Trump is presented with a New England Patriots football helmet by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

President Donald Trump on Monday morning continued to bash NFL players who kneel or otherwise protest during the US national anthem before games. In a series of tweets, he pointed out that “many people booed” the protesting players, and he again denied the issue was race-related.

Trump again took to defending those offended by many NFL players’ decision to kneel or otherwise protest the US during the “Star Spangled Banner,” describing those fans as people who “who demand respect for our Flag” in a tweet.

In a follow-up tweet, Trump again asserted his Sunday statement that the his issue with NFL players protesting the flag has “nothing to do with race.”

In 14 NFL games on Sunday, dozens of NFL players responded to Trump’s criticism by kneeling or otherwise protesting the anthem. Before the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans, both teams stayed in their their locker rooms to avoid the spectacle entirely. Elsewhere, while some players knelt, others stood with arms linked in a display of unity.

Beyond NFL players, artists performing the national anthem and a baseball player, the Oakland A’s rookie catcher Bruce Maxwell, recently knelt in protest.

While Trump demanded on Monday that the NFL “must respect” the US’s flag and anthem, and previously suggested NFL owners should fire players who protest, he has not suggested any legislation or legal action that would likely contradict the players’ first amendment right to acts of free speech.