On Sunday, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to weigh in – again – about NFL television ratings that have declined during the 2020 season.
The president implied that NFL fans are not watching games as much this year because of ongoing NFL protests for social justice. He said in the tweet that people want respect for the national anthem and the American flag.
In fact, Trump thinks NFL viewership ratings will continue to get worse as the season progresses.
In a response to a tweet from @DailyCaller, Trump said, “People want respect for our Anthem and our Flag. Ratings will only get worse! Didn’t we go through this once before?”
This is not the first time President Trump has spoken out against professional sports leagues in America who are protesting. He has posted on Twitter multiple times criticizing the NFL, NBA, and even NASCAR for decisions he deemed unpatriotic.
Previous NFL Rating Comments From Donald Trump
Just last week, Trump spoke out on Twitter about the exact same issue. After the NFL’s first week of games finished, reports of viewership ratings declining compared to last year became a popular sports topic.
For example, Sunday Night Football’s television ratings declined by 15 percent from last year. In addition, Monday Night Football ratings declined 10 percent from last year.
In 2016, Colin Kaepernick started the ongoing movement of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. Trump has taken issue with Kaepernick, but also the NFL for allowing the protests before the start of games. The president – and many fans – disagree with the time and place of the protests, and think they are disrespectful to our country.
On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted about the NFL television ratings in a similar post as Sunday’s tweet.
In a response to a tweet from @dhookstead, Trump said, “‘Cratered.’ We have plenty of politics to go around without disrespecting our great American Flag or Anthem. I thought the NFL learned their lesson two years ago. The people will not put up with this (again). Just not worth it, hard to watch!”
Likewise, Trump addressed NBA protests in late August. He said he didn’t know much about the situation, but that he felt like “people are a little tired of the NBA, frankly.” The president’s stance has been clear when it comes to ongoing protests by athletes, no matter what league is involved.
