Most Americans are behind the NFL’s new ban on kneeling during the pregame national anthem, according to a SurveyMonkey poll released Wednesday.
Frequent protests marred the 2017-2018 season causing 54 percent of the American public to support the league’s new ban, with 43 percent opposing it. The results were even more stark among Americans who call themselves NFL fans, with 56 percent approving and 42 percent opposing. The poll, including responses from 1,795 American adults, comes just days after the NFL promised to levy fines against teams if players kneel on the field during the national anthem. President Donald Trump praised the decision, having long criticized kneeling as unpatriotic. The new policy does allow players to stay in locker rooms during the anthem, however. (RELATED: This Is How Mike Pence Celebrated The NFL’s New Policy)
“I think that’s good,” Trump said of the ban while on “Fox & Friends.” “I don’t think people should be staying in the locker rooms, but still I think it’s good. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing. You shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”
Democrats were far more likely to oppose the ban than the general public, with 65 percent disapproving of the ban and 62 percent saying kneeling during the anthem has nothing to do with patriotism. Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a prominent Democrat, called for a boycott of the NFL to force a reversal of the policy. (RELATED: Michael Moore, Other Celebs Are Raging Over New NFL Policy)
Friends who know me, know that I love football. But I won’t be watching this NFL season because of the unfair cowardly and idiotic kneeling ban. #BoycottNFL
— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) May 27, 2018
“Friends who know me, know that I love football,” Ellison tweeted Sunday. “But I won’t be watching this NFL season because of the unfair cowardly and idiotic kneeling ban. #BoycottNFL.”
The SurveyMonkey poll was conducted online between May 24 and 25, and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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