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Trump continues NFL clash: NASCAR fans won't disrespect our country

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Trump continued his tirade Monday morning against the NFL and its players who refuse to stand for the national anthem, demanding that the league “respect” the anthem and praising NASCAR for its “loud and clear” position on the issue.

“Many people booed the players who kneeled yesterday (which was a small percentage of total). These are fans who demand respect for our Flag!” Trump wrote online Monday. “The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!”

He started his tweets with praise for NASCAR, writing: “So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won't put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag - they said it loud and clear!”

Multiple team owners from NASCAR, the stock car racing league that is especially popular in the South and in more rural parts of the U.S., took a tougher stance than those from the NFL, warning that they would fire crew members or drivers who protested during the anthem. The Associated Press reported that Sunday’s race in New Hampshire appeared to be protest-free during the anthem.

Trump turned what had been a smattering of national anthem protests in the NFL into a league-wide trend this weekend, suggesting at a Friday rally in Alabama that team owners should cut any player who “disrespects our flag.” The remark kicked off a weekend of presidential tweets targeting the NFL and its players, some of whom have taken a knee during the anthem beginning last year to protest racial inequality and police brutality in the U.S.

The president’s attacks only fueled protests across the league, with at least some players from nearly every team taking a knee during the anthem. Some stood with locked arms on the sidelines during the anthem, while the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers all stayed in the locker room during the song. From the Steelers, only offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, stood in the tunnel with his hand on his heart during the anthem.

Trump’s criticism was met with an almost unanimously chilly reception from the NFL, including from league commissioner Roger Goodell, who called the president’s message “divisive,” and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who said he was “deeply disappointed” by the president’s comments. Kraft is a longtime friend of Trump’s who donated money to his inaugural committee and had dinner with him and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last February at Mar-a-Lago.