ESPN’s Jemele Hill: Trump’s NFL remarks will only make more players protest

ESPN anchor Jemele Hill said Saturday that President Trump encouraging NFL owners to fire players for kneeling during the national anthem will only cause more protests.

“Just so we’re clear: the president’s comments will only incite more player protests, not quell them,” Hill said.

Just so we’re clear: the president’s comments will only incite more player protests, not quell them.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 23, 2017

Trump told a crowd at a rally for Alabama Senate candidate Luther Strange (R) Friday night that NFL players will stop kneeling if people would leave games.

{mosads}”When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they are playing our great national anthem – the only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium,” Trump said. “I guarantee things will stop.”

Trump also said NFL owners should fire players if they refuse to stand during the national anthem.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b—- off the field right now,'” he continued, adding, “‘He is fired.'” 

Hill called Trump a “white supremacist” and a “bigot” in a series of tweets earlier this month. After her tweets, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said ESPN should fire Hill.

“That is one of the more outrageous comments that anybody could make and certainly is something that is a fireable offense by ESPN,” Sanders said during a White House press briefing.

Trump later demanded in a tweet of his own that ESPN apologize for Hill’s remarks.