On Tuesday, President Trump continued his feud with the NFL and even went so far as to call on the organization to ban its players from kneeling during the national anthem:
The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can't kneel during our National Anthem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
Trump’s tweet came after days of controversy which he started on Friday after criticizing NFL players who knelt during the national anthem. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his claim that the players’ protests depressed the NFL’s television ratings:
Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
Trump also commented on a Monday night football game where players knelt before the national anthem. When the Dallas Cowboys knelt before the national anthem, Trump said, they provoked “great anger” and the “loudest” booing he’s “Ever heard”:
Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
The Cowboys, however, stood when the national anthem began, something that Trump said showed “big progress”:
But while Dallas dropped to its knees as a team, they all stood up for our National Anthem. Big progress being made-we all love our country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
On Monday, the White House defended Trump’s previous comments in which he used the term “son of a b***h” to describe players who protest during the anthem.
“I think that it’s always appropriate for the president of the United States to defend our flag, to defend the national anthem, and to defend the men and women who fought and died to defend it,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.