South Carolina’s Republican governor is declaring Feb. 4 “Stand for the Flag Super Bowl Sunday.”
In a proclamation issued Tuesday, Gov. Henry McMaster designated this year’s Super Bowl Sunday as a day to stand for the national anthem amid a national debate over whether NFL players should be forced to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The proclamation cites a high concentration of military personnel and veterans in South Carolina and calls on residents of the state to stand for the anthem during the Super Bowl to “honor the service and sacrifice of generations of men and women of the United States Armed Forces.”
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McMaster’s proclamation comes several months after President Trump reignited a feud with the NFL over professional football players who kneel in protest during the national anthem.
The protests began in 2016 with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the anthem to protest racial inequality and police violence.
In a fiery campaign-style rally last September, Trump suggested that NFL team owners should fire players who participate in the protests. He later said that the NFL should implement a rule that would require players to stand for the anthem.
Trump later scoffed at a proposal by the league to keep players in locker rooms during the national anthem, saying that doing so would be “almost as bad as kneeling.”
Super Bowl LII is set to take place on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, with the Philadelphia Eagles facing off against the New England Patriots.