In newly earthed footage, President Donald Trump was seen mocking the national anthem before the Super Bowl on Sunday. Now This News was able to obtain footage of Trump dancing around and pointing at people while the “Star-Spangled Banner” was being performed by Demi Lovato. Trump was not at the game, which took place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, but rather at his own Super Bowl party at the White House. This was an interesting move by Trump considering he has been very vocal about players standing during the national anthem.
Trump was filmed mocking the national anthem during a Super Bowl party, despite his well-documented criticism of players for protesting the anthem pic.twitter.com/znlbHc1hck
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 6, 2020
Back in 2017, Trump was at a rally in Alabama and famously noted how NFL players were “ruining the game” with their protest during the anthem. “That’s a total disrespect of our heritage,” he said at the time via NBC Sports Boston. “That’s a total disrespect of everything that we stand for.
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“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a b— off the field right now. Out! He’s fired.’”
Trump went on to say that NFL TV ratings are down because of the kneeling. “You know what’s hurting the game more than that?” he said. “When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they’re playing our great national anthem,”
The kneeling first started out with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick in 2016. At first, Kaepernick was sitting during the national anthem, but when talking to his former teammate Nate Boyer who is an Army veteran, Kaepernick began kneeling in protest against the treatment of Black Americans in the United States and for racial inequality.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL.com after the first time he sat during the national anthem which was during a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
With the move, Kaepernick has not been on an NFL roster since opting out of his contract in 2017. Since then there have been a few players to kneel during the national anthem and there have been players to stay in the locker room while the song is being played.
What do you think of the president’s goofing off during the anthem? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
