Marshawn Lynch national anthem

Screengrab via NFL/YouTube

Trump demands NFL suspend Marshawn Lynch for sitting during national anthem

It's the second straight day Trump has blasted Black athletes.

 

Josh Katzowitz

Tech

Posted on Nov 20, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 10:37 am CDT

Donald Trump has reinserted himself back into the NFL’s national anthem debate. This time, the president blasted Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch for standing during the Mexican national anthem on Sunday, but sitting during the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Less than a day after Trump tweeted he should have left three UCLA basketball players in jail in China because one of their fathers wasn’t grateful for Trump’s help, Trump blasted Lynch.

The Raiders played the New England Patriots in Mexico City on Sunday, which is why both countries’ national anthems were played. Lynch stood for one, but took a seat for the other.

Since returning from retirement at the beginning of this season, Lynch has declined to stand for the national anthem. Lynch was suspended for one game earlier this year for making contact with an official.

Lynch doesn’t speak much with the media but when asked about Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests last year, Lynch said, “With what’s going on, I’d rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up, and get murdered. And if you’re really not racist then you won’t see what he’s doing as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have.”

The NFL has declined to make it mandatory for players to stand during the anthem, and the league owners and the players recently decided that the best way to handle Trump’s tweets on the matter was simply to ignore them.

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*First Published: Nov 20, 2017, 8:59 am CST