Trump slams NFL for not firing players who 'disrespect' US

ByALI ROGIN ABCNews logo
Saturday, September 23, 2017

President Donald Trump slammed the NFL this evening for what he called the league's tolerance of players showing disrespect to the U.S.

Speaking to a crowd in Huntsville, Alabama, where Trump is campaigning for Luther Strange ahead of the Senate runoff for the Republican primary, Trump insisted the NFL take a stronger stance.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of the NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now?'" he continued to thunderous applause and cheers.

"You know, some owner ... is going to say, 'That guy who disrespects our flag, he's fired,'" Trump said.

Trump went on to encourage people to "leave the stadium" to protest people doing things like kneeling during the national anthem. "I guarantee things will stop," he said.

He also seemed to suggest efforts to prevent injuries were "ruining the game."

"Because you know today if you hit too hard: Fifteen yards. Throw him out of the game," Trump said. "... They want to hit. It is hurting the game."

Trump fires back at North Korea

Trump took aim at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday evening as well, saying "Little Rocket Man" should have been handled a long time ago and vowing he would shield Americans from Kim.

"You are protected. Nobody is going to mess with our people. ... Nobody is going to put our people in that kind of danger. Nobody," Trump said.

In a statement Thursday, Kim said Trump will "pay dearly" for his address to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, in which Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea.

"I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire," Kim said.

Trump told the crowd in Huntsville that he will "handle" Kim unlike previous administrations before him.

"He may be smart, he may be strategic and he may be totally crazy. But no matter what he is ... believe me we're going to handle it," Trump said Friday.

The comments followed an early morning tweet from Trump, in which he called the North Korean leader a "madman" and said he "would be tested like never before."

McCain opposition to GOP health care bill 'unexpected,' Trump says

During the Friday remarks, Trump, who at times seemed to take on a Southern accent, also expressed his displeasure with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said earlier today he would not support the Graham-Cassidy health care bill.

"That was a totally unexpected thing," Trump said. "Honestly, terrible."

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