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President Trump voiced his enthusiasm for the return of sports on Tuesday, but warned that he would be tuning out if players protested the national anthem.
In an early morning tweet, Trump said he was “looking forward to live sports.”
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“... but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our County and the Flag, the game is over for me!” he continued.
Although he did not explicitly name anyone, the president’s remarks came just a day after San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler and several of his players knelt during the national anthem before their exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics on Monday.
“I wanted them to know that I wasn't pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality and I told them I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the Black community and marginalized communities as well," Kapler said, describing a conversation with the team.
"I wanted to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with our clear systemic racism in our country and I wanted them to know that they got to make their own decisions and we would respect and support those decisions."
Right fielder Jaylin Davis and first base coach Antoan Richardson also took a knee as shortstop Brandon Crawford stood between them with a hand on each of their shoulders.
In San Diego, Angels reliever Keynan Middleton kneeled and raised his right fist during the national anthem before the team's 1-0 victory over the Padres.
Trump has long been outspoken against athletes kneeling during the national anthem. The conversation first began in 2016 when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality.
Athletes in various sports followed suit, but those protests were met with criticism.
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After the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, however the reaction by league officials was vastly different.
Trump went on to criticize New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who apologized several times last month for saying in an interview that he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also has apologized for the league’s initial handling of the protests, and vowed to work with players and teams to change.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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