Trump Just Said American Soldiers Have Lost Limbs ‘Fighting for Our National Anthem.’
President Falsely Claims Kneeling to Protest Racial Oppression Is Disrespecting the Military
President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon continued his attacks on NFL players who are silently protesting racial oppression. At a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Spain, Trump said he recently visited wounded U.S. soldiers at a VA hospital who lost limbs fighting for the National Anthem and the American flag.Â
“Many people have died. Many, many people. Many people are so horribly injured. I was at Walter Reed Hospital recently and I saw so many young people, and they’re missing legs, and they’re missing arms, they’ve been so badly injured, and they were fighting for our country.”
“They were fighting for our flag. They were fighting for our national anthem. And for people to disrespect that by kneeling during the playing of our national anthem I think is disgraceful.”
“For people to disrespect [the military] by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem, I think is disgraceful,” Pres. Trump says pic.twitter.com/zjMen3Iikd
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 26, 2017
The NFL players have increasingly, many in response to the President calling Colin Kaepernick a “son of a bitch” Friday night, been refusing to stand for the national anthem. Kaepernick, now a free agent, “took a knee,” kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to protest police killings of Black people, and to protest systemic racial oppression and racism.
The Commander in Chief has it all wrong.
He is falsely claiming the American flag is what he is supposed to be protecting. He swore an oath to preserve and protect the U.S. Constitution, not he flag nor the anthem. Soldiers and their families have weighed in, stating they support NFL players’ kneeling, and saying their rights to free speech is why they fought – they weren’t fighting for the flag or the anthem.
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