Evan Vucci / AP
President Donald Trump shouts to reporters as he walks with first lady Melania Trump to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Washington.
Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
View more of the Sun's opinion section
There are two logical ways to interpret President Donald Trump’s claim that race had nothing to do with his criticism of NFL players who are demonstrating during the national anthem, and neither of them reflect well on Trump.
One, he’s lying, in which case he’s a racist.
Two, he legitimately thinks he can come at the players without it being racially divisive, in which case he’s an idiot.
Either way, it’s yet more evidence that Trump is completely unfit for the office he holds.
Let’s be clear, the demonstrations are 100 percent about race. The players are drawing attention to the killings of black Americans by predominantly white police forces and are in no way aiming at anything else.
“It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel,” wrote the San Francisco 49ers’ Eric Reid in an exceptional column Monday in The New York Times. “We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest.
“It should go without saying that I love my country and I’m proud to be an American. But to quote James Baldwin, ‘exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.’”
Had Trump approached the issue with the same level of thoughtfulness, respectfulness and eloquence that Reid offered in his column, the debate on the matter would be far healthier.
But instead, Trump’s crude and profane remarks during a speech in Alabama merely took an open wound and ripped it even wider. Playing to an overwhelmingly white audience, Trump offered abundant proof to critics who contend he uses race to rev up his political base at the expense of minorities.
Worse yet, he’s doubled down on the issue. According to a CNN report on Tuesday, he said he felt his criticism of players had “really caught on” and that he wanted to keep it going.
Now, instead of considering the issue from both sides — the pain of those who’ve fought or lost loved ones in the military and the pain of those decrying racial inequality — Americans have tended to draw into camps on the issue.
That’s a tragedy, and it lies squarely at Trump’s feet.
