President Trump is
mixing politics and sports
when he called out professional
athletes who refuse to stand
during the national anthem.
Wouldn't you love to see
one of these NFL owners,
when somebody
disrespects our flag,
to say get that son of a
[BLEEP] off the field right now.
Out.
He's fired.
BEN KENNEDY: NFL protests are
back in the national spotlight
after President Trump took
on the National Football
League and the First Amendment.
He's not emphasizing sports.
You're missing the entire
purpose of the message.
He's emphasizing something
that should be unifying.
BEN KENNEDY: But the
president's comments
appeared to only fuel the feud
between the NFL and the White
House.
Was it intentional?
President Trump knows
exactly what he's doing.
He's done this
throughout his career.
And I think when he
sees a cultural moment,
the potential to put himself
in the middle of something
that he knows is rather
divisive, he seeks it out.
BEN KENNEDY: A new "ABC
News Washington Post" poll
shows 66% of Americans
say the president has
done more to divide than unite.
WOMAN: (SINGING) What
so proudly we hailed--
BEN KENNEDY: Last
week, six NFL players
protested racial injustice.
That number grew to more
than 200 this weekend.
So while the attention was
on the gridiron, health care,
a new travel ban, and North
Korea took a back seat.
RICK KLEIN: There are a
lot of things he doesn't
want to be talking about.
The North Korean nuclear
threat, the health
care bill that might go
down again this week,
that very same special election
in Alabama may not go his way.
I think he finds an
opportunity to put himself
in the middle of a big story
or make a story even bigger,
kind of pour gasoline
on a fire in this case,
and make that the story instead.
BEN KENNEDY: And it
appeared to work,
as Monday's press
briefing was sparked
with questions about
the numerous tweets
from Trump on the NFL.
So when he tweets
something, it
does take away from
his legislative agenda.
Would you not agree?
No, I don't, because
I think that it's
important for a president
to show patriotism,
to be a leader on this
issue, and he has.
Now President Trump defended
his remarks, saying this
has to do with respect
for the country, flag,
and national anthem,
nothing else.
For "CBN News," I'm Ben
Kennedy at the White House.
