The official White House talking point on Donald Trump’s attacks on peaceful protest during the national anthem at NFL games became clear within moments of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders starting to take questions at Monday’s press briefing. Does Trump regret the divisiveness of attacking football players as sons of bitches who should be fired?
This isn’t about the president being against anyone, this is about the president and millions of Americans being for something. Being for honoring our flag, honoring our national anthem, and honoring the men and women who fought to defend it.
No, Trump does not regret calling athletes sons of bitches for daring to protest. And mentioned nowhere in Sanders’ talking point? The Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of speech. Did the president go too far?
It’s always appropriate for the president of the United States to defend our flag, to defend the national anthem, and to defend the men and women who fought and died to defend it.
That “it’s always appropriate” line is one Sanders repeated. In translation: “It’s always appropriate for the president of the United States to defend our flag, even at the cost of shitting on the Constitution.” Always appropriate, even when we’re talking about vulgar insults directed at people for peaceful protest:
Q: Does the president believe that there are very fine people who kneeled yesterday watching those games or are they all SOBs?
A: I think you’re trying to conflate different things here. Look, we certainly respect the rights that people have, but I think we also need to focus, again, this isn’t about the president being against something, this is about the president being for something.
How dare you compare Trump’s response to white racist protesters and black anti-racist protesters? It’s two completely different things!
This is about the president being for respecting our country through symbols like the American flag, like the national anthem.
Symbols like the flag we protect. The founding document of the nation that provides a framework for our rights, not so much. Asked specifically about the Constitution, which the president swears an oath of office to protect, Sanders dodged like a pro. Because these people do not care about the law, they care about the symbols they can exploit.