In the News
Players from almost every team in the National Football League showed their solidarity in protest of recent comments by President Donald Trump, either taking a knee or locking arms during the national anthem on Sunday.
Because of the time difference, players from the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars got the jump on everyone by kneeling or locking arms in protest during the national anthem before the kickoff of their game in London on Sunday morning.
Back in the U.S, players in the nine 1 p.m. EDT games followed suit before their games started.
In silent rebuttal of criticism from President Trump, NFL players in the sport's first game of the day kneeled during the national anthem, while other locked arms in solidarity.
The opening moments of the game, played in London, featured numerous players from both the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars kneeling. Their protest came just hours after Trump fired off a pair of early-morning tweets again assailing professional athletes who have staged "take a knee" protests during the playing of the national anthem, and urging fans to shun games.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a former active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force who currently serves as a Colonel in the Reserves, schooled Republicans who didn't serve on NFL players' rights to protest as they used the flag in their attempts to defend President Trump attacking NFL players who kneel, saying they should be fired.
Trump is clinging to the flag as a reason why he should be allowed to order NFL players not to protest, which tells you everything you need to know about the President's authoritarian leanings and inability to handle dissent.
President Donald Trump's lashing out at NFL players who kneel in protest during the national anthem and the resulting backlash is playing out in part on social media, including under a Twitter hashtag trending Sunday morning, #takeaknee and also another variation, #taketheknee.
Watching the National Football League on weekend afternoons became the latest American tradition drawn into the relentless vortex of controversy that surrounds President Trump, as players from London to New England to Carson knelt or linked arms Sunday while others stayed in the locker room during the national anthem.
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