For President Trump's base, the president's feud with the National Football League is "the red meat of all red meat," Fox News anchor Shepard Smith said on Monday afternoon, but they're wrong that the NFL players who kneel during the national anthem are protesting the flag. "They're upset about racial injustice and they're upset about the things that the president has said," he added, suggesting that Trump is using the fight to distract his base from the failure of the ObamaCare repeal effort and the fact that "North Korea's the biggest mess since the Cold War."
Smith was talking with Politico congressional reporter Rachael Bade, who said one Republican had just told her that Trump amplifying the protests is not helpful. "It's an ugly dispute right now," she said. "People in general don't like it when folks protest the national anthem." "Of course, they're not protesting the national anthem," Smith cut in. "That's not what they're doing. You know, we're complicit," he added, chuckling. Bade reverted to Trump's argument that the players were protesting the flag, but said: "It has become about more than just the flag, honestly, because the folks feel like the president is bullying black football players after the Charlottesville controversy, just a few weeks later. So, it's just bad all around for Republicans, we can say that."
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