President Trump said Wednesday night that the NFL could have avoided its problem with players protesting the national anthem if the league had suspended Colin Kaepernick when he started kneeling in 2016.
“I watched Colin Kaepernick and I thought it was terrible,” Mr. Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “And then it got bigger and bigger and started mushrooming. And frankly the NFL should have suspended him for one game and he would have never done it again.”
The president said of the former 49ers’ star, “They could have then suspended him for two games and they could have suspended him again if he did it a third time, for the season, and you would never have had a problem. But I will tell you - you cannot disrespect our country, our flag, our anthem, you cannot do that.”
Mr. Trump has been feuding with the NFL over the player protests. The league said it will hold a meeting next week in an effort to agree on a policy for players during the playing of the national anthem.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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