Trump Says Fans Showed ‘Great Anger’ After Dallas Cowboys Team Took a Knee

Trump Says Fans Showed ‘Great Anger’ After Dallas Cowboys Team Took a Knee
Members of the Dallas Cowboys take a knee before the start of the national anthem at an NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 25, 2017. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Jasper Fakkert
9/26/2017
Updated:
9/26/2017

President Donald Trump responded on Tuesday after the entire Dallas Cowboys team—including coaches and the team’s owner, Jerry Jones—decided to take a knee before the national anthem.

The Cowboys made the statement during Monday night’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. After taking a knee for around 10 seconds, at which point the crowd could be heard booing loudly, the entire team stood up to stand for the anthem.

“The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard. Great anger,” Trump tweeted the next morning.

The head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jason Garrett, said following the team’s move that “the objectives, as much as anything else, were to somehow, some way demonstrate unity and demonstrate equality.”

Garrett said that while they wanted to demonstrate, they did not want to disrespect the flag or the national anthem.

“The flag represents the fight and the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of men and women over the last 240 or so years who have been fighting for these ideals all over the world,” Garrett said.

A stand-off between Trump and the NFL has dominated headlines after Trump called on NFL owners to fire players who refuse to stand for the 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 [expletive] off the field right now,” Trump said at a rally in Alabama on Sept. 22.

In response to the Dallas Cowboys, Trump did say that “big progress is being made,” since they did all stand for the anthem. “We all love our country,” Trumps said in the tweet.

Over 200 NFL players decided to not to stand for the national anthem over the weekend in response to Trump’s comments in Alabama. The form of protest, which was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last season, gained some following earlier this year, but exploded following Trump’s comments.

“It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

The NFL has responded by condemning Trump’s comments and standing with the players who decided to kneel or boycott the anthem all together.

Many fans have responded with anger to the protests, booing at the kneeling athletes in the stadium, and some uploading videos to social media showing them burning their NFL gear.

On Sept. 26, Trump called on the NFL to create a new rule that prohibits NFL players from kneeling during the anthem.

“The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can’t kneel during our National Anthem!,” he tweeted.

Jasper Fakkert is the Editor-in-chief of the U.S. editions of The Epoch Times. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Science and a Master's degree in Journalism. Twitter: @JasperFakkert
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