Special Reports & Tweets - Choose A Side - America Or The NFL
Aired: 2018-02-02
Duration: 07:40


=== President vs. NFL: A Racial Divide (07:40) ===

[00:00:00]  The NFL has rejected a one-page ad for this year's Super Bowl program.
[00:00:04]  The ad, submitted by AMBETS, features a military guard holding an American flag and the text, hashtag, please stand.
[00:00:12]  The NFL said it rejected the ad because it made a political statement.
[00:00:18]  Preston's reverence for those who have served our nation reminds us of why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts.
[00:00:28]  For the Pledge of Allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the National Anthem.
[00:00:38]  Go, he's gonna start talking.
[00:00:41]  The NFL. I hope they show the whole audience with this one, because I want to see the Democrats sitting.
[00:00:54]  Yeah.
[00:00:56]  There they are, all seated.
[00:00:59]  The Democrats don't stand for the anthem because they hate America.
[00:01:03]  Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out?
[00:01:12]  He's fired.
[00:01:14]  He's fired!
[00:01:16]  We have breaking news tonight in the war between Donald Trump and the NFL. There is an unmistakable racial element to this story.
[00:01:23]  It's hard to ignore the racial component here.
[00:01:26]  The president went on this jag on Friday night in front of a largely white audience.
[00:01:33]  That is racism.
[00:01:34]  You cannot deny it.
[00:01:35]  You cannot run for it.
[00:01:37]  And I kneel in honor of...
[00:01:40]  A lot of talk now about coded language.
[00:01:43]  You think about what he said, disrespecting our heritage, we, to that largely white crowd.
[00:01:48]  I think there's a lot of folks out there that look at this and say, what are you really trying to say here?
[00:01:53]  This feels like a culture war that's exploding right before our eyes.
[00:01:58]  Is he trying to wage something of a culture war?
[00:02:00]  Not at all.
[00:02:01]  The president's not talking about race.
[00:02:03]  The president's talking about pride in our country.
[00:02:07]  What you saw yesterday were players and fans of all races joining together as Americans to honor our service members.
[00:02:13]  That's what the president's talking about.
[00:02:15]  That's what his focus is on.
[00:02:16]  You're not going to find many...
[00:02:18]  Voices of support outside his base, his extreme base for these remarks.
[00:02:23]  We have a white supremacist president of the United States.
[00:02:26]  The president of the United States chose to pull the sheets off and reveal himself.
[00:02:30]  He thinks apparently that he is the slave master of black people in the NFL. He wants us to be kneeling in the cotton fields again.
[00:02:37]  The idea that this doesn't have something to do with race is preposterous.
[00:02:39]  This country that he wants to make great again is all about making it white.
[00:02:44]  His whole thing is, when would America make America great again?
[00:02:48]  Now we see that 1817 is more likely when he's thinking about America being great as opposed to us kneeling on behalf of righteousness and justice.
[00:02:57]  The national anthem is not a white supremacist symbol.
[00:03:01]  Some of the words of the national anthem are white supremacists.
[00:03:06]  You think the national anthem is racist?
[00:03:08]  I think this is a country whose history is racist.
[00:03:11]  The president of the United States.
[00:03:13]  Came out attacking NFL players for them exercising the freedom of speech.
[00:03:19]  Because that's a total disrespect of our heritage.
[00:03:22]  That's a total disrespect of everything that we stand for, okay?
[00:03:27]  Everything that we stand for.
[00:03:29]  All right, Lisa, as they take a knee collectively, boos can be heard from this sellout crowd in Arizona.
[00:03:36]  I'm not sure if our president understands those rights.
[00:03:45]  That every American has the right to speak out and also to protest.
[00:03:51]  As a white father having raised three boys, there were a million things to worry about on a daily basis.
[00:03:56]  But it's impossible for me to truly understand the challenges that an African-American father faces at every turn while raising his children.
[00:04:04]  It's like you're at the 50, you know, the 50-meter mark in a 100-meter dash.
[00:04:09]  You got that kind of a lead.
[00:04:11]  Yes, because you were born white.
[00:04:13]  This idea that black people should be grateful is some sneaky-ass racism.
[00:04:18]  Trump continued.
[00:04:19]  It is about respect for our country.
[00:04:22]  Flag and national anthem.
[00:04:24]  NFL must respect this.
[00:04:26]  Dude.
[00:04:27]  You're going after the NFL? A lot of these players, they've got feelings, they've got emotions, they've got opinions.
[00:04:33]  And many of the players I spoke to feel that their voice is not being heard.
[00:04:36]  And more specifically, that the president's comments on Friday, particularly calling them SOBs, were a slap in their face.
[00:04:42]  One of the things, though, about football is that it always has a way of kind of unifying us and pulling us together.
[00:04:48]  We hope that this unity that spread throughout the league yesterday will spread throughout America in the weeks and months to come.
[00:04:55]  When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they're playing our great national anthem...
[00:05:03]  The only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it's one player, leave the stadium.
[00:05:13]  I guarantee things will stop.
[00:05:15]  Things will stop.
[00:05:16]  Just pick up and leave.
[00:05:18]  Pick up and leave.
[00:05:19]  For all you people who just seem to not understand, let me clarify this for you, okay?
[00:05:24]  It's not about the act of protesting.
[00:05:29]  It's not about the act of believing in something and pursuing it.
[00:05:34]  It's the way you're doing it.
[00:05:36]  The NFL players, all you assholes who are kneeling during the national anthem, let me explain something to you because obviously you're too stupid to get it.
[00:05:42]  You're not getting your message out.
[00:05:44]  It's not resonating with America.
[00:05:46]  Your message is being lost because of the methods.
[00:05:49]  That you're taking to get your message out there.
[00:05:51]  I'm burning my jerseys.
[00:05:52]  I'm not going to support the Dolphins anymore.
[00:05:55]  This is for America!
[00:05:56]  Shelton organized a Dolphins t-shirt burning in his Davy backyard.
[00:06:01]  You're talking about an anthem of hope and unity within this country that have made people become great, that have made the poor become rich and give people opportunities.
[00:06:13]  You're just talking about a flag that represents hard work, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears.
[00:06:20]  Sacrifice.
[00:06:21]  It's not about race.
[00:06:21]  It's not about the fact that these players are black.
[00:06:24]  It's about the fact that they are disrespecting America.
[00:06:28]  That's the problem that I have.
[00:06:29]  It's the problem that President Trump has.
[00:06:31]  It's the problem that every American who loves this country has.
[00:06:34]  You know what this flag stands for to me?
[00:06:36]  Every day, I wake up as an American knowing I can do better.
[00:06:41]  I take it really personally.
[00:06:43]  So, this is what I have to say to the NFL. And if I'm not the commissioner in this room right now, I'd kick his f***ing ass.
[00:06:49]  Explain something to you f***ing overpaid morons who chase a ball down a field and think somehow you're God's gift to America if you speak.
[00:06:57]  Nobody gives a f*** about your feelings.
[00:06:59]  Nobody gives a s*** about your message because you've s***ed on everybody to get it out.
[00:07:03]  And the thing that makes me most upset is that you have these people who turn around and take a knee.
[00:07:10]  And want to attribute all the negativity to the flag and the anthem, but don't want to attribute the positive.
[00:07:16]  Listen, if you feel that the American flag represents negativity and slavery and all this other stuff, then you have to give credit and credence to a flag that have given you an opportunity to go from cornfields and picking cotton to being the president of the United States of America.
[00:07:32]  You want to convince America that this is about social justice and the Constitution?
[00:07:37]  Then maybe you ought to get off your butts and do something positive.