USA Today reports:
President Trump says most Americans agree with his attacks on protesting football players who kneel during the national anthem – and claims so do some National Football League owners.
“They say, ‘We are in a situation where we have to do something,'” Trump said in an interview broadcast Thursday on Fox & Friends. “I think they’re afraid of their players, you want to know the truth.”
Trump’s assertion that the team owners were “afraid” sparked backlash on social media, where users pointed out that most of those players are African-American. The critics included ESPN broadcaster Jemele Hill, who had a dust-up with the White House this month after calling Trump a white supremacist.
EXCLUSIVE: @PeteHegseth interviewed @POTUS on national anthem protests pic.twitter.com/LJhOK9nTmw
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) September 28, 2017
Trump just told Fox News that some NFL owners are “afraid of their players.” Dog whistles getting loud enough for humans to hear now…
— Alana HorowitzSatlin (@achorowitz) September 28, 2017
Oh my, we have reached peak racial demagoguery. https://t.co/jlXmpDZbHd
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 28, 2017
“I think they are afraid of their players, you want to know the truth.” — Trump on NFL owners.
Wow.
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) September 28, 2017