Donald Trump has been giving the people of this great company a taste of what it is like to live under a dictator. Keep in mind, 45 has adored leaders who bully their people, too. He admired North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, China’s Xi Jinping, and his favorite — Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Trump’s latest act proved that he is imitating them.
The U.S. president weaponized tweets. His morning rants on Twitter have caused one of the nation’s top employers, Amazon’s stock to drop like a rock.
This was only because Trump did not like some of the truths The Washington Post wrote about him. The owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, also owns the famous newspaper.
Then, Trump bullied the NFL into a move against the Freedom of Speech, which is found in the first amendment of our Constitution. A lethal group of tweets from the twitter-addicted man hit hard against the football players taking a knee protesting police violence against the black community.
Keep in mind, the players were protesting silently and respectfully. That did not matter to the man sitting in the Oval Office, and his racist tweets crept into the heart of one of the nation’s favorite sport, football.
The 49ers’ owner Jerry York was the only NFL team owner to abstain from a vote that denied the players their First Admendent right. Every other owner voted for it, and the league announced the vote unanimous.
The first player to ever take a knee, Colin Kapernick, was blackballed by the league, even though he has remained in his prime playing years. This player said that Green Beret and NFL player Nate Boyer convinced him to take a knee, according to Snopes. Kapernick commented:
‘I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone.’
The league now formally forbids all players and personnel on the field from taking a knee rather than standing for the anthem. It doled out a meager compromise that allowed the players to remain behind in the locker room.
Asked if Trump was part of their decision-making. Mark Murphy, president of the Packers, laughed according to 247Sports.com:
‘Oh yeah. It was more how (Trump) might react, anticipating that. Also, how the fans will react, how the media will react. That’s what we tried to think through. . . . No matter what we did, (Trump) would probably try to get involved one way or the other—either criticizing us or taking credit for the change.’
https://youtu.be/qf6LG8c0R48
The owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, said that Trump was just “part of the entire picture:”
‘(Trump) certainly initiated some of the thinking, and was a part of the entire picture. But all of that was given consideration.’
York continued, saying that the players have “the right” to take a knee:
‘At the end of the day, we are an entertainment property. You tune into football on Sunday or Monday or Thursday to get away from everything else. And I think people have had enough of the political fights. I think people do want to get back to football. But our players also have the ability, and the right to champion their causes and bring attention to those causes.’
The Colts vice chair Carlie Irsay spoke on Fox about the letters the NFL sent to the teams. She said the letters bothered the recipients, and they were especially troubled by the league far more than by the players’ actions.
Feature Image via Getty Images/Spencer Platt.
