Mike Pence Leaves NFL Game After Players Kneel During Anthem
Pence leaves NFL game after players kneel during anthem
Vice President Mike Pence decided to show up at a NFL football game yesterday for about 45 seconds, and in a moment of mock outrage left as fast as he came when players knelt during the national anthem.
The public hissy fit happened when the San Francisco 49ers (Colin Kaepernick’s former team) and Pence’s home state Indianapolis Colts played on Sunday, in what some feel to be the most staged act of outrage ever witnessed.
It should’ve come as no surprise to the Vice President that some players would kneel during the anthem, just as others continue to link arms in solidarity after Trump proclaimed that any “son of a bitch” disrespecting the flag should be thrown out of the stadium.
During the anthem Pence stood, as is his right, but upon seeing players kneel promptly bolted then immediately tweeted about the incident, leaving most calling bullshit on his intentions.
NFL players around the country have chosen to kneel as peaceful protest against police brutality, systematic racism, and inequality directed towards black Americans. Kaepernick stated previously, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” saying that his protests would continue until he felt, “[the American flag] represents what it’s supposed to represent.”
Pence’s tweet read in part, “While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I don’t think it’s too much to ask NFL players to respect our Flag and our National Anthem,” but his actions left many feeling like he had no tolerance if those opinions are expressed in a way he doesn’t agree with. Maybe, just maybe, the office of the President should be offended by other, more pressing issues.
For his part, Trump has stated his criticism of the NFL and its players had “nothing” to do with race, which leaves many concluding he (and many others) have either not taken the time to actually understand that his “American experience” is in vast contrast to many people of color or he simply doesn’t care. Apparently, he also preemptively told Pence to leave if what they expected to happen, actually happened.
After Pence’s tweets, it is becoming clearer (if anyone needed clarification) that his publicity stunt was planned in advance to fan the flames of division. Vaughn Hillyard of NBC News reported that the press following Pence to the event “never even left their vans to enter the stadium,” according to Mashable.
It left others wondering just how much money was wasted to try to prove his point:
Wonder if all those protesting kneeling during the anthem are standing at attention in living rooms and bars all across America every single time the anthem plays — out of respect for what they believe in, of course.
