Speaker of the House Paul Ryan defended President Trump on Sunday over his comments about the NFL where he’s been critical of players who kneel in protest of racial injustice during the national anthem.
The Wisconsin Republican said the president has a point about the protests, because the people kneeling during the national anthem don’t see it as disrespecting the country and the people who died protecting it.
“I think clearly people have a right to express themselves … but what so many Americans — I see this at home — see is you’re disrespecting the idea of America that we want to make this free country, a more perfect union and that people have died and fought and survived to protect it,” said Mr. Ryan Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
His defense of Mr. Trump comes after the president came under attack from Democrats for tweeting about the NFL protests in the wake of disaster plagued Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, which killed at least 16 people.
“Mr. President, instead of dividing the country over this you could give support to the 3.4 million Americans without power in Puerto Rico,” Rep. Don Beyer, Virginia Democrat, tweeted last week.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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