Fox News footage suggests Eagles kneeled during the national anthem. They were praying. Before the game.

After most of the Philadelphia Eagles opted out of a traditional Super Bowl victory visit to the White House, Trump scrapped the whole thing for a national anthem extravaganza instead.

It's blatant retaliation for NFL players kneeling during the national anthem — except the Eagles never kneeled.

So when Fox News reported the cancellation over footage of Eagles players kneeling, the players were quick to punt back. Tight end Zach Ertz clarified that they weren't kneeling in protest, they were kneeling in prayer, and called the manipulative usage of the images "propaganda."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Defensive end Chris Long went even further, implying that Trump is Fox News' "boss."

And wide receiver Torrey Smith concisely dispelled with the notion that any Eagle kneeled during the 2017-18 regular season.

Even if players weren't kneeling, Trump tweeted that staying in the locker room during the anthem was just as bad. (The Eagles didn't do that either.) Kathryn Krawczyk

Update 11:01 a.m. ET: Fox News issued an apology for using the "unrelated footage of players kneeling in prayer" in its segment about the canceled White House visit. You can read their full statement here.