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Brees said this week he would "never agree with
anybody disrespecting the flag," referring to the possibility of
players kneeling during the "Star-Spangled Banner" in the
upcoming NFL season. Brees apologized Thursday, saying his words
"lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy."
The kneeling pose, popularized by NFL quarterback Colin
Kaepernick, has become a symbol of the fight for racial justice
in the United States.
Trump tweeted on Friday that Brees "should not have taken back
his original stance."
"We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a
salute, or a hand on heart," Trump wrote. "There are other
things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag - NO
KNEELING!"
The kneeling pose has been seen at protests in cities across the
country in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed
black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Brees' initial remarks angered top athletes, who objected to the
equating of the protest with disrespecting the American flag.
The New Orleans Saints player responded to Trump Friday night in
a lengthy social media post in which he said "we can no longer
use the flag to turn people away."
"We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to
the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic
oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform,"
Brees wrote on Instagram.
Kaepernick popularized the move in 2016, appearing on NFL
sidelines first sitting, and later kneeling, during the
customary pre-game airing of the U.S. national anthem.
Trump was an early critic of the protest, and in 2017 Vice
President Mike Pence walked out of an NFL game when some of the
players knelt on the sidelines during the anthem.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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