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AFTER US VICE President Mike Pence walked out of an NFL game yesterday after some players kneeled for the national anthem, Donald Trump claimed that he did so on his orders.
Pence said that he departed after seeing players kneel during a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner before his home team the Indianapolis Colts hosted the San Francisco 49ers.
“I left today’s Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag, or our national anthem,” Pence wrote on Twitter.
Later, Trump commended Pence for protesting against the footballers’ protest.
Donald J. Trump / Twitter
Donald J. Trump / Twitter / Twitter
While Colts players stood arm-in-arm for the anthem, more than 20 San Francisco players took a knee.
It was a less organised gesture than the 49ers’ demonstration last week, when 30 players knelt with hands on hearts while teammates stood behind them.
But it should have come as little shock to Pence, an Indiana native who had tweeted his photo in Colts cap and shirt before the game.
“While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don’t think it’s too much to ask NFL players to respect the flag and our national anthem,” Pence tweeted.
“I stand with President Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our flag and our national anthem.”
San Francisco safety Eric Reid, one of the first players to embrace the anthem protest after it was initiated by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last year, said Pence’s walkout looked like a publicity stunt.
‘Systemic oppression’
“With the information I have, the last time he went to a Colts game was three years ago, so this looks like a PR stunt to me,” said Reid, noting that the picture Pence had tweeted of himself and his wife in Colts apparel appeared to be the same as one taken at a game three years ago.
The vice president also tweeted a picture of himself, clad in a button-down shirt and blazer, and his wife standing for the anthem yesterday.
“He knew our team has had the most players protest. He knew we were probably going to do it again,” Reid said.
And so this is what systemic oppression looks like – a man with power comes to the game, tweets a couple [of] things out and leaves the game with an attempt to thwart our efforts.
Trump angered NFL stars, team owners and league officials last month in describing players who refused to stand for the anthem as “sons of bitches.”
His comments sparked a wave of demonstrations around the league, with many players and some team owners locking arms in a sign of unity.
The NFL Players Association issued a statement yesterday reiterating its support of players’ rights to express their views.
“We should not stifle these discussions and cannot allow our rights to become subservient to the very opinions our Constitution protects,” the union said.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also weighed in on the issue, threatening to bench players who do not stand for the anthem.
“If we are disrespecting the flag, then we will not play. Period,” Jones said after the Cowboys’ 35-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Dallas.
I’m very supportive of the team, but under no circumstances will the Dallas Cowboys – I don’t care what happens – under no circumstances will we as an organisation, coaches, players, not support and stand and recognise and honor the flag.
Pence, who flew to Indianapolis from Las Vegas and was scheduled to head west to Los Angeles, came in for criticism from outside the sports world for his abbreviated appearance at the game.
“After all the scandals involving unnecessarily expensive travel by cabinet secretaries, how much taxpayer money was wasted on this stunt?” Congressman Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, said in a tweet.
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You forgot to ask, “how many genocides are they committing right now?”. Or “how many deadly viruses did their negligence unleash upon the world?”. “How many cigarettes a day is Beijing air the equivalent of smoking”… I could go on.
@Thomas Smyth: I guess ye didn’t bother with the quiz Thomas.
@Thomas Smyth: well, there’s the Tibetans, the uighurs, there Mongols and many other minority groups. I suppose when it comes to diseases ther’s sars, mers, bird flu, swine flu, man flu, covid 19. With regards to air pollution in Beijing it would depend on what we’re smoking, john player or major?
Why is the journal obsessed over China?
@Mark Twomey: they are going to buy our little island
I know that they are still preventing Irish citizen Richard O’Halloran from returning home to Ireland and to his family.
3/10 and I lived there for 2 years
@Mattress Dick: 4/10 I lived there 3 years so dont feel upset!
@Mattress Dick: 2/10. I order Chinese food once a week.
Again I asked earlier in the week….why all the pro China articles?
A great bunch of lads
Overweight people question: two thirds is the same as over half…… Over half is too ambiguous
@Paul Hedderman: anything under 66.6% is above half but not two thirds. Just as 66.7% would be over two thirds
9,000 Paddys doing us proud no doubt.
Zero
Small build of People with a Big Virus
I got 0. Guess I don’t know anything about China. Oh well, I’ll just go back to being awesome.
@aidan mccormack: yes nothing fills me with more awe than ignorance of China.
They’ve a lot of millionaires, I was surprised at that.
@Bert Carolan: who do you think is buying all our new housing projects?
@Paul’s TEFL adventures: just a little step towards the super power they will eventually come.
@Bert Carolan: considering the size of their population it’s a very small amount.
@JustHereForTheComments: to be fair to the Irish government, I couldn’t see them starting a new disease and denying all claims about the source of the disease.
@Sparky: the CCP obviously snapped up a few shares in the Journal and they’re just trying to keep on the right side of their overlords……..
Quality child labour practices,…..
@Eoin Fitzgerald: unlike the honest Irish government.
Is Simon Coveney funding all this pro china journal propaganda while they imprison an Irish citizen?
7/10. Greater China could mean all of the nations in the South China sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and more according to the CCP so thats a right puzzler. There is a decent amount of Irish folk in Taiwan having creamy pints though.
@Paul Cunningham: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan are not countries
Former British , Portuguese colonies.Taiwan taken from China by Japan until end of WW2, now occupied by desendents of defeated nationalists
They are all part of China.
.
@Donal Desmond: Sure ask a Hong Konger or Taiwanese person that and you deserve to get your head knocked out like the lad in Jervis street.
@Donal Desmond: Says your man with the Easter lily as his profile pic. By your reckoning we’re all British so are we but just occupied by Irish nationalists?
@Donal Desmond: Found Coveney’s account.
The Chinese ‘A great bunch of lads’
Sure dey love de Irish and 94.7% of them love de hurlin and watch d’all Ireland. Chinese girls dream of marrying Sir Henry Shefflin and having kids that play for Tsingtao Kickhams,
The wiggle woggle said
When I’m standing on my head
I can see the coast of China
And it’s very very red..
” spike milligan”
Hou Hi is a Chinaman?
4/10, still laughing at me innocently clicking on 4 languages as my first guess.
@#FreePalestine: Nobody will ever admit to how covid started. The Chinese know but they will never spit it out. Was it started in a lad, eating bats? Nobody will ever know.
Ah lads ..not even a question on how many bicycles are in Beijing!!
@Eoin Fitzgerald: Sorry what makes Chinese people liars?
@Paul Gorry: I would consider SF bullsh*ters. FF are cute hoors and FG a boring party. Yes they probably lie to a small extent but on the scale of the Chinese.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: spoken like a politician in the making there eion fair play.
As much as I’d ever want to!!!
@Eoin Fitzgerald: But the Irish government are probably liars!!! Agree or disagree?
****not to the scale of the chinese
have your say