Trump demands unpaid suspensions for protesting NFL players

Several members of the San Francisco 49ers kneel during the national anthem — (Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Demonstrating that he has never met a dead horse he did not want to beat, President Trump tweeted Friday evening about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, proposing unpaid suspensions for repeat protesters:

The NFL announced Thursday it would not enforce its policy, implemented earlier this year, of requiring players to stand during the national anthem. The new rule was introduced after uproar — most loudly from Trump himself — over athletes' decision to protest institutional racism and police brutality by kneeling while the song is performed. The policy is now subject to a complaint filed by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and is under confidential review.

NFLPA President Eric Winston responded to Trump on Twitter Friday. "Thanks for your thoughts," he wrote, "but we'll take it from here."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.