President Donald Trump on Friday lobbed barbs at protesters who kneel during the national anthem, after NFL quarterback Drew Brees apologized for remarks he made about the practice.
Brees said this week he would ānever agree with anybody disrespecting the flag,ā referring to the possibility of players kneeling during the āStar-Spangled Bannerā in the upcoming NFL season. Brees apologized Thursday, saying his words ālacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy.ā
The kneeling pose, popularized by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, has become a symbol of the fight for racial justice in the United States.
Trump tweeted on Friday that Brees āshould not have taken back his original stance.ā
āWe should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart,ā Trump wrote. āThere are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag ā NO KNEELING!ā
The kneeling pose has been seen at protests in cities across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Breesā initial remarks angered top athletes, who objected to the equating of the protest with disrespecting the American flag.
The New Orleans Saints player responded to Trump Friday night in a lengthy social media post in which he said āwe can no longer use the flag to turn people away.ā
āWe must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform,ā Brees wrote on Instagram.
Kaepernick popularized the move in 2016, appearing on NFL sidelines first sitting, and later kneeling, during the customary pre-game airing of the U.S. national anthem.
Trump was an early critic of the protest, and in 2017 Vice President Mike Pence walked out of an NFL game when some of the players knelt on the sidelines during the anthem.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Leslie Adler)