Trump Is Fundraising Off Pence's NFL Walk-Out & Here's Why It Makes No Sense

On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence made a dramatic exit from a San Francisco 49ers game before the game even got under way, when several players kneeled in protest to the National Anthem.

In an email issued on Monday from the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, President Donald Trump stated, “Yesterday members of the San Francisco 49ers took a knee during our National Anthem. Their stunt showed the world that they don’t believe our flag is worth standing for, but your Vice President REFUSED to dignify their disrespect for our anthem, our flag, and the many brave soldiers who have died for their freedoms.” 

However, this is not the first time NFL players have kneeled in protest to the National Anthem. Most notable was San Francisco 49er’s Colin Kaepernick, leading the “Take a Knee” movement last year, by refusing to stand for the National Anthem during the team’s third game of the season. Kaepernick simply stated, “I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed,” when asked about his decision to not stand. It's also notable that the movement is not about standing for the anthem, flag or the United States military — but instead, as Kaepernick and others who chose to kneel have said on many occasions, it's about challenging police brutality. 

In the wake of Kaepernick’s silent protest, NFL players and coaches have been kneeling during the National Anthem to show solidarity and make an equally powerful statement about police treatment of people of color — particularly young black men. Thus using their platform to silently protest and show their disdain for this issue that has yet to be resolved.

While NFL players taking a knee during Sunday’s game came as no surprise to viewers, President Donald Trump using Vice President Mike Pence’s actions to promote fundraise efforts, was a new tactic the White House tried on for size.

According to the Daily Post, “Trump team is offering to send supporters an "I STAND FOR THE FLAG" sticker in exchange for contributions of at least $5 to the "Trump Make America Great Again Committee." Naturally, people had a lot to say about these tactics.

As D. Watkins, professor at the University of Baltimore and founder of the BMORE Writers Project wrote in an Op-Ed for Salon.com: “The hypocrisy coming from White House is unreal. It's obvious to anyone that did any bit of research that these protests were never about the troops. They were never about the anthem. And they were never about the flag.” While, California Representative Adam Schiff, noted the unnecessary amount of tax payers dollars that Vice President Mike Pence used in what he deemed a stunt. He tweeted the following, “After all the scandals involving unnecessarily expensive travel by cabinet secretaries, how much taxpayer money was wasted on this stunt?”

Unfortunately, publicity stunts are nothing new to the Trump administration, and Pence using this as an opportunity to profit as opposed to attempt to understand why players are kneeling in the first place, is a true testament to where our current government places value on these issues.

The Take A Knee Movement is, at its core, a peaceful protest, however, it seems Vice President Mike Pence does not see it as that. Rather he and so many who are disgruntled and angry about NFL players kneeling, see this movement as an attempt to diminish American patriotism and disrespect the flag and what it stands for. When in actuality the freedom that our flag represents is one of freedom of speech and the right to express one’s views, which both parties are so clearly doing. For the Vice President of the United States to not understand the freedom that the country he represents holds, is what makes this entire stunt ultimately concerning and troubling.