Rich Lowry, a committed Republican "never Trumper" on the NFL protests, and Trumps call to fire the protesters.
Regarding Trump’s fire-the-NFL-protesters line last night that Teddy noted, it is a classic example of Trump’s, at times, gut-level political savvy. This kind of thing is why he’s president.Similarly, after Stephen Curry said he would vote "no" for the team to visit the White House, Donald Trump says Warriors not welcome at White House.
He takes a commonly held sentiment — most people don’t like the NFL protests — and states it in an inflammatory way guaranteed to get everyone’s attention and generate outrage among his critics. When those critics lash back at him, Trump is put in the position of getting attacked for a fairly commonsensical view.
Of course, NFL owners firing players on the spot for protesting isn’t necessarily common sense, but this is where “seriously, not literally” comes in. Since everyone knows that owners aren’t going to do this, Trump’s statement registers for his supporters merely as forceful opposition to the protests, not as a specific plan of action. His advocacy for a Mexico-funded border wall and for the Muslim ban played in a roughly similar way (although The Wall was taken more literally, hence Trump’s exertions to make a colorable case that it is being built).
Finally, when Trump is criticized and doesn’t back down it is taken by his supporters as a sign of strength. If a political consultant came up with this strategy, he’d deserve a huge raise. But it’s just Trump himself operating on instinct.
Stephen Curry said his beliefs were "cemented even further about how things in our country are going" after President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the Golden State Warriors are not welcome at the White House to celebrate their 2017 NBA championship.
"My stance is the same as it was [Friday]," Curry said Saturday. "And even kind of cemented even further about how things in our country are going, especially with [Trump] representing us in a very damaging way.
"I don't know why he feels the need to target certain individuals rather than others. I have an idea of why, but it's kind of beneath a leader of a country to go that route. That's not what leaders do."
On Friday, Curry said he would vote no if the team was invited to the White House. Teammate Kevin Durant previously told ESPN that he would not go. Warriors owner Joe Lacob told ESPN on Friday that he planned to meet with the team Saturday morning before its first practice to discuss the issue and that the White House was aware of the timeline.
President Trump made his message clear Saturday morning on Twitter before that meeting could happen.
Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
An invitation to the White House is not an entitlement.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has been openly critical of Trump and his administration on multiple occasions, said the team probably wouldn't have gone had it been extended an invitation.It's divisive because he chose to make it divisive.
"We would, in normal times, very easily be able to set aside political differences and go visit and have a great time," Kerr said. "That'll be awesome. But these are not ordinary times. Probably the most divisive times in my life, I guess, since Vietnam.
Democrat media is about to spend a whole weekend defending multimillionaire athletes who disrespect our flag— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) September 23, 2017
Gosh I wonder why Trump won
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