Now here’s something completely different.
President Trump has spent the past year or so engaging in a public dispute with NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem. He infamously suggested that team owners throw players off the team who refuse to honor our country.
The back and forth has been so heated, with fans voicing their disgust with a sports league that allows such disrespect of the flag, that the NFL finally caved, announcing that players who didn’t stand for the Anthem would be fined. (RELATED: NFL’s New National Anthem Policy Is a Win For Trump).
President Trump escalated an already fraught situation by disinviting the Philadelphia Eagles, who won their first Super Bowl championship earlier this year, to the White House celebration, citing the team’s lack of patriotism. (RELATED: Trump Cancels Super Bowl Champion Eagles’ Visit – Taunts NFL Players for Kneeling During National Anthem).
This was a silly assertion, given that no Eagles players actually kneeled during the National Anthem in the regular season. Regardless, as soon as President Trump made his announcement, both sides were back to squabbling, claiming the other was unpatriotic.
Now, it looks like we have a shot at reconciliation. President Trump said that he would be open to talking to NFL athletes who kneel during the Anthem to get a better idea of their grievances, and even announced he’d be open to pardoning individuals convicted of crimes. Here’s some of what Trump said, via CNN:
“You have a lot of people in the NFL in particular, but in sports leagues, they’re not proud enough to stand for our National Anthem. I don’t like that,” Trump said Friday, also insisting that players should not remain in the locker room when the “Star Spangled Banner” is playing.
“What I’m going to do is, I’m going to say to them instead of talk … I am going to ask all of those people to recommend to me — because that’s what they’re protesting — people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system,” Trump said. “And I understand that.”
He added, “If the athletes have friends of theirs or people they know about that have been unfairly treated by the system, let me know.”
WATCH: Trump says he will ask NFL players who kneel during National Anthem for a list of those they feel should be pardoned pic.twitter.com/lWSTNXhxwG
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) June 8, 2018
If Trump follows through on this, it will go a long way toward repairing our social fabric, which has been torn in recent years by partisan bickering and hateful rhetoric.
Moving past this and bringing the country together is impossible without dialogue. That President Trump is willing to listen to these players, and to take seriously their opinion, shows that there may be hope left for making football about football again.
Trump just took the first move toward reconciliation. Will NFL players step up and accept his offer?
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