Despite Colin Kaepernick repeatedly stating that his protest is against racism, police brutality, and oppression, detractors have made his kneeling during the national anthem about disrespecting the flag and the United States. President Donald Trump is among those detractors and spoke out against Kaepernick and others during a rally in Alabama, calling for them all to be fired. Trump continued those thoughts on Twitter and suggested his supporters start a boycott as well.
Trump said if fans stop attending games "until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country" then they will see change. POTUS also said that NFL ratings are way down, and though the games are "boring," those fall in ratings are due to fans boycotting because of their love for the country. While Trump may think his supporters are responsible for the ratings decline, others are boycotting because they believe Colin Kaepernick is being blackballed by the league because of his stance.
Several NFL owners released statements speaking out against Trump's recent speech in which he called protesting NFL players "sons of bitches." Many owners say they support their players rights to protest how they see fit. Some owners, however, were a little more measured in their words as they are Trump supporters. NFL owners Bob Kraft (New England Patriots), Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys), Stan Kroenke (Los Angeles Rams), Daniel Snyder (Washington Redskins), Shahid Khan (Jacksonville Jaguars), Woody Johnson (New York Jets), and Bob McNair (Houston Texans) each donated $1 million to Trump.
