The NFL did the "right thing" by passing a rule concerning players who kneel during the National Anthem, according to President Donald Trump, but he does not agree that players who don't want to stand should remain in their teams' locker rooms.
"You have to stand proudly for the National Anthem or you shouldn't be playing," the president told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade during an interview recorded on Wednesday backstage at a Long Island roundtable and airing on "Fox & Friends" Thursday.
"You shouldn't be there. Maybe you shouldn't be in the country. You have to stand proudly for the National Anthem."
Earlier in the day, NFL owners approved a new policy aimed at addressing the firestorm over national anthem protests, permitting players to stay in the locker room during the "The Star-Spangled Banner" but requiring them to stand if they come to the field.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the change was approved unanimously by the owners at their spring meeting in Atlanta, but it was met with immediate skepticism by the players' union.
"We want people to be respectful of the national anthem. We want people to stand," Goodell said. "That's all personnel, and to make sure they treat this moment in a respectful fashion. That's something that we think we owe. We've been very sensitive on making sure that we give players choices, but we do believe that moment is an important moment and one that we are going to focus on."
Any violations of the policy will result in fines against the team and not the players.
Trump would not take full credit for the new rule.
"This was not me," he told Kilmeade. "I brought it out. I think the people pushed it forward. This country is very smart. We have a very smart country, and, you know, it's something that could have been taken care of when it first started. It would have been a lot easier. If they did that, they're doing the right thing."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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