President Donald Trump says he’s finished watching professional baseball after the manager and several players from the San Francisco Giants took a knee during the national anthem in one of the first Major League Baseball games since play resumed after being delayed by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Washington Post reports that Kapler spoke with his players prior to the game and told them he would be taking a knee:
“I wanted them to know that I wasn’t pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality. I told them that I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the Black community, and marginalized communities as well.
“And so I told them I wanted to use my platform to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with the way we’ve handled racism in our country. I wanted to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with our clear systemic racism in our country.
A bunch of Giants players and coaches kneeled for the anthem. Brandon Crawford put his hands on the shoulders of Jaylin Davis and Antoan Richardson: pic.twitter.com/2XsIg8oFjw
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) July 21, 2020
Trump, however, was not impressed with the display, tweeting out:
Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2020
The president has repeatedly expressed disdain for players who take a knee during the anthem, even going to far as to suggest that any football player who does so should be fired and saying the “son of a bitch” who protests in such a manner isn’t worthy of playing the sport.
However, in light of the changing national mood on racial injustice in policing after the death of George Floyd at the hands of cops in Minneapolis earlier this year, many athletes have said they will be protesting during the anthem if and when their seasons begin.
Featured Image Via NBC News
