New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees reignited the discussion about players kneeling during the national anthem earlier in the week, and President Donald Trump was happy to wade in after him.
Brees said earlier in the week that he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag” and voiced his belief that everyone should stand for the national anthem. He was widely criticized for missing the point of those who had knelt during the anthem, and ended up issuing a lengthy apology for his initial comments.
President Trump weighed in Friday afternoon, saying in a pair of tweets that Brees should not have apologized and repeating the belief that kneeling should not be permitted during the anthem.
…We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag – NO KNEELING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2020
This is probably not something the NFL wants to relitigate, especially right now. You only need to take note of some of the responses to Brees’ original quote to see just how strongly many black athletes feel about commentary like this. You only need to look at how players reacted other times Trump weighed in to see just how much this could inflame the situation.
