President Trump has pushed the agenda that NFL players who kneel are disrespectful and unpatriotic when it comes to what the flag stands for. And while a new poll reveals that most Americans disagree and believe that kneeling during the national anthem is “not unpatriotic,” over half side with new NFL policy requiring players to stand while on the field.
According to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, by a 53-to-43% margin, Americans are in support of NFL players right to kneel in protest, reports CNN.
Still 51% of voters did, however, side with the NFL’s new policy requiring players to stand on the field during the national anthem or take up the option of staying in the locker room.
Some 70% of Republican voters said taking a knee was unpatriotic. However, a mere 11% of Democratic voters agreed.
“Voters are clearly torn on the National Anthem issue. They seem to be saying, ‘You can still love your country and kneel during its Anthem,’ but the NFL’s new ‘must stand’ mandate is fine with them, too,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, according to a news release from Quinnipiac.
There were 1,223 voters nationwide polled via landline and cell phone interviews from May 31 to June 5.
Many questioned the President’s reasoning that NFL players were kneeling because they objected to the flag and what it stood for.
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Colin Kaepernick’s legal team is reportedly preparing to subpoena President Donald Trump to prove that there was political influence that resulted in the NFL colluding and black-balling the star quarterback.
The federal subpoena is expected to be issued in the coming weeks, according to a source who spoke to Yahoo. Colin Kaepernick’s legal team is seeking testimony from Trump Vice President Mike Pence and other officials familiar with the president’s agenda on protesting NFL players, sources said.
According to Yahoo Sports, the other people on the deposition list include the following: Three NFL owners (Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, New England Patriots’ Robert Kraft and Houston Texans’ Bob McNair); two head coaches (Baltimore Ravens’ John Harbaugh and Seattle Seahawks’ Pete Carroll); two general managers (Ravens’ Ozzie Newsome and Seahawks’ John Schneider); and two NFL executives (Executive Vice President of Operations Troy Vincent and Senior Vice President of Player Engagement Arthur McAfee).
The deposition list is part of a grievance case filed by Kaepernick against the NFL which claims that the NFL blacklisted him after he spearheaded the National Anthem protests that have sparked controversy around the nation. Kaepernick has not been picked up by another NFL team since leaving the 49ers, and he believes that the NLF is colluding against him to keep him out of the sport.
Trump cancelled the Philadelphia Eagles visit to the White House this week, saying that the Super Bowl winning team was unpatriotic for kneeling even though no team members had ever taken a knee.
The NFL now requires players to stand on the field during the national anthem or take up the option of staying in the locker room.
In all, the poll found that 61% of voters did not approve of Trump’s handling of race relations.