A White House Official Falls Apart When Asked To Defend Trump Fighting With The NFL

When Trump Legislative Director Marc Short was asked why the President was fighting with the NFL instead of working on the issues, Short’s reply was to fumble around and make up something that Trump never said.

Video:

Transcript via CBS’s Face The Nation:

JOHN DICKERSON: But the NFL issue is a useful one in terms of healthcare?

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MARC SHORT: Look, I think the NFL is an issue where the president has made a case that, as we’ve talked about, there are coaches across this country, at high-school level, who are penalized and disciplined for leading their players in prayer. And yet, you see an issue in the NFL where the media champions those who are taking a knee to disrespect the American flag. That is a dichotomy that most Americans can’t understand and for good reason. And the president’s raising attention to that.

JOHN DICKERSON: But he raised attention to not the prayer issue, but pointed out to players. I mean, you mentioned the prayer. But he didn’t mention the prayer.

MARC SHORT: Well, he’s making the case that, in many cases, there are generations of Americans who have fought and died to protect our freedoms and fought and died for the red on that flag that represents the blood that’s been sacrificed by so many Americans.

And what the president is doing is saying, “This is not the appropriate place to raise your social activism.” And I think he’s made the case that you have a First-Amendment right, if you wish, to protest the flag. But owners have a First-Amendment right, as well. They have the First-Amendment right to fire those players, if they so choose.

Trump said none of what Short claimed he said.

The President said that NFL players should be suspended or fired if they exercised their right to free speech. The President never mentioned anything about prayer, and in the video, you can see Short’s wheels spinning as he tries to make some sense out of Trump’s attack on the NFL. The truth is that Trump’s pathological need to divide people and pick fights is a huge distraction that prevents things from getting done on the policy front.

Trump’s Legislative director couldn’t explain it, and when he tried his answer was a mixture of ideological gibberish and BS.



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