SPORTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump plans to teach the NFL’s kneeling players a strongman’s lesson, saying in effect, that all Americans should adopt their President’s concept of patriotism. Reigniting his base-pleasing, culture war feud with African-American players in a move that is certain to widen national divides on a deeply sensitive issue, Trump is telling the Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t come to the White House Tuesday [6-5-8]. The President’s abrupt gambit inflamed a debate about the protests that he has relished but that has dragged two rare unifying points of American life — the NFL and the National Anthem — into the treacherous politics of the Trump era. Trump, angry that some Eagles players planned to skip their Super Bowl victory lap, is planning an event instead featuring the National Anthem in a jab at players who last season took a knee to protest racism when it was played before their games. In a Tuesday morning tweet heralding the event, Trump warned the NFL about ‘escaping to locker rooms,’ a reference to a new league policy that allows players to remain off the field during the playing of the National Anthem if they choose not to stand for it.”
-Stephen Collinson, “Trump to NFL players: Patriotism is my way or the highway,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 5, 2018 8:10 am