San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid called out President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence over players protests during the national anthem, claiming that it’s not about the “anthem, the flag or the military.”
“It’s disheartening that the president of a country would call any of his citizens an S.O.B.,” the 49ers player said during his appearance on “The View” Tuesday. His comments come in response to questions by Joy Behar about Trump criticizing players who kneel and Vice President Pence leaving the game Sunday after players on his team protested during the national anthem. (RELATED: Fight Breaks Out On ‘The View’ Over Why Hillary Lost)
“But then when you compare that — when you compare that to the events that happened in Charlottesville or neo-Nazis killed a person and nearly beat another person to death, and he [Trump] calls them very fine people, it’s sad, he added. “But he’s giving us an opportunity to continue to speak about these issues. I’m here today talking to you because of what he said, so in a way, I’m kind of grateful that he’s made those comments because it’s allowed our platform to broaden.”
“I am going to be a little bit of a voice of dissension on this. An overwhelming number of polls show that the majority of Americans think that what you’re doing is wrong. How do you respond to that, and do you think it’s just racism,” new co-host Meghan McCain jumped in, before asking him about his statement that Pence leaving the game was an act of “systemic oppression.”
“That’s why I’m here today, to try to control our narrative. It’s been misconstrued as disrespectful to the flag, the military and the anthem,” Reid shared. “I have the utmost respect for your father, my mother who served and anybody who served and protect our country.”
“The vice president went to that game knowing ahead of time that the San Francisco 49ers had the most players engage in the protest, so he went to that game knowing that we’re going to protest again and he went to that game knowing that he would leave after the anthem so he could miss construe our message furthermore and say it’s being disrespectful,” he added.
Whoopi Goldberg then took a jab at the president bringing up Trump’s past comment about John McCain and claiming that the president was “slow to condemn Nazis and KKK” after the violence in Charlottesville.
“So the idea that you’re considered disrespectful ….you’re not considered disrespectful when you criticize a gold star family of a soldier, fallen soldier, when you say soldiers aren’t… you don’t like soldiers who have been captured,” Goldberg explained. “When you’re slow to condemn Nazis and the KKK, to me that’s disrespectful. That’s disrespectful.”
Reid simply responded,” right.”