Expressing his disdain at the kneeling ritual symbolic to the Black Lives Matter movement, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 21 tweeted that while he was looking forward to watching live sports, he would exit if he sees a player taking a knee during the national anthem.

Calling it “a sign of great disrespect” to the country and the flag, Trump made it clear that the “game is over” for him if it happens in his presence.

His stance comes only a day after San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler joined several players in taking a knee after a victory against the Oakland Athletics.  

Kapler mentioned that he had told the team how he wanted to use his platform to demonstrate his dissatisfaction with the way racism was handle in the United States. Kapler also sai that he “wanted the players to feel safe speaking up.”

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While the move was lauded by Major League Baseball and others, the US President made clear how he felt about it. Trump’s comments drop after hashtag #BoycottMLB trended on Twitter a day after Kapler’s open act of solidarity.

While games such as soccer, golf, and racing have returned to competition despite the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, several players have been seen standing up against the racial prejudice, demanding the confederate flags and monuments be removed. 

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Confederate flag a “source of pride”

Earlier, in a televised interview on July 19, US President Donald Trump called the Confederate flag a ‘proud’ symbol of the country’s south and denied it of being offensive.

In the interview, when asked if the flag — which is considered a symbol of slavery and oppression by most US citizens — was offensive, Trump outraged many by calling it a “source of pride”.  When further probed about his stance on the flag controversy, Trump said it depends on the ‘context’ one was talking about.  

Taking a defensive stance on Confederate icons, Trump claimed that people supporting the historical significance of the flag were not talking about racism and said that the flag represents the southern states.  Even at his Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally in June, Trump was aggravated over kneeling during the anthem, saying, “I thought we won that battle with the NFL,” in the live-streamed conference. 

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(With agency inputs; Image Credit – AP)