Fansided

Judging from Trump’s Twitter, Trump’s not doing a good job boycotting the NFL

By Shea Corrigan

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 24: Members of the Indianapolis Colts stand and kneel for the national anthem prior to the start of the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Cleveland Browns at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 24, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 24: Members of the Indianapolis Colts stand and kneel for the national anthem prior to the start of the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Cleveland Browns at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 24, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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As with most things related to Trump and Twitter, Trump just can’t stop tweeting about the NFL. So, the boycott is going well then.

Donald Trump’s no good, very bad football weekend began with a speech in Alabama, in which he called for NFL owners to fire any players who protested during the national anthem. Then, he tweeted about it, as he does. And since then, he hasn’t been able to stop tweeting about the NFL — despite calling for his supporters to boycott the league.

(Trump’s bad weekend on Sports Twitter has not been limited to football either. After NBA champion and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry said he wouldn’t visit the White House, Trump uninvited the team and then got roasted by just about everyone who’s anyone in the NBA on Trump’s very own favorite social media platform, which included but was not limited to an all-time great LeBron James burn. Trump was then “pleased to inform” the people that the NHL champion Pittsburgh Penguins, a “great team,” would be visiting the White House.)

Anyways, back to football. So, while he was trading shots with the NBA and unifying the Montague-and-Capulet-esque Cavs and Warriors Twitters, he was also doubling down on those NFL/SOB comments from Alabama.

UPDATE: Trump tweeted about the NFL again just a few minutes after this was published. His most recent tweets are at the top:

Alright, back to your regularly scheduled article:

Curiously, Trump tweeted about how “standing with locked arms is good” after the first wave of games (and their respective anthem protests) had passed. The locked arms demonstration is popular with teams interested in promoting a message of unity as opposed to protesting a specific condition (e.g. police brutality). Read into the tweet what you want, or don’t, but it certainly looks like he’s backtracking in order to limit what can possibly be interpreted as protest. If he’s okay with locked arms, then the locked arms aren’t a statement against him, then fewer people are protesting him. And given he tweeted it after the first set of protests had happened, it sounds like damage control.

Then, hours later, in the midst of the day’s NFL action, Trump retweeted a couple graphics and memes about boycotting the NFL and tweeted again about respecting the flag.

https://twitter.com/DonnaWR8/status/912019764838649857

https://twitter.com/DonnaWR8/status/912020084176146432

Like most things about which the president feels a type of way, it seems like he’s far more fixated on the NFL than the NFL is on him. While it was a historic day for protests — more than 100 players knelt or sat in protest — the Sunday slate of games mostly carried on without further politicization.

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More than anything, this is just such a weird thing to preoccupy him. And the fact he’s interspersing his NFL tirades (about ratings, it’s always about ratings with this guy) with threats to destroy North Korea is wildly concerning.

Update: He’s still tweeting and also apparently watching the games too.

…which is not how boycotts work, but okay.