During a joint presser with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the president doubled down on his criticisms of the NFL and its players for protesting social injustice by law enforcement.
Trump has been playing to his base by swapping what NFL players are protesting and what he wants them to be protesting.
Fox News' Shep Smith described it perfectly.
Steve Holland Of Reuters asked Trump if he was too preoccupied with the NFL to properly deal with the devastation in Puerto Rico.
Trump replied, "I wasn't preoccupied with the NFL, I was ashamed of what was taking place."
He continued, "To me that was a very important moment. I don't think you can disrespect our country, our flag, our national anthem. To me the NFL situation is a very important situation. I've heard that before about, was I preoccupied? Not at all."
In America, you can disrespect our country, our flag, and our National Anthem if you so choose. That's what living in a free country means.
The more Trump talks, the more confused he gets.
Trump said, "Not at all. I have plenty of time on my hands."
Huh? We know you play an insane amount of golf on the tax payers dime, but still.
"All I do is work. To be honest with you, that's an important function of working. It is called respect for our country."
Many people would call his attacks on American citizens right to free speech not respectful and basically criminal.
Take a drink after Trump says the word "many."
Trump continued, "Many people have died. Many, many people. Many people are so horribly injured. I was at Walter Reed hospital recently (that's as close to a battle field as Trump ever came to) and I saw so many great young people and their missing arms and their missing legs and they're so badly injured. And they were fighting for our country, for our flag. They were fighting for our National Anthem."
The players aren't protesting against the military or the National Anthem, but you need a distraction.
"And for people to disrespect that by kneeling during the playing of our National Anthem, I think is disgraceful."
You can have that opinion, but you can't as president call for private citizens to be fired because you disapprove of their actions that aren't breaking any laws.
He wrapped up the question by saying, "I think it's a very important thing for the NFL to not allow people to knee during the playing of our National Anthem. To respect our country and our flag."
What's next? Will Trump attack fans for not standing when the National Anthem is sung? Will his Trumpers begin a campaign to harass Americans that go to sporting events who don't, in their minds, properly honor their country?
