President Donald Trump is seen in a new video seemingly ignoring the recitation of the national anthem, even mock-conducting the band at one point.
The video, first reported by the Miami Herald, shows the president fidgeting, pretending to conduct the band, and not holding his hand at his heart dutring his Super Bowl watch party at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.
Donald Trump, who cares deeply about the national anthem, is caught goofing off in a video by a “real estate agent for a Russian-American firm who frequents Mar-a-Lago,” where Trump was watching the Super Bowl with paying customers pic.twitter.com/eaTvUVUFSg
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) February 3, 2020
Trump has been a longtime critic of those who do not respect the national anthem, such as NFL players who kneel during the anthem to protest police brutality. (RELATED: Trump Calls The NFL ‘Weak And Out Of Control’ Over Ongoing Anthem Protests)
The president said in 2017 that the NFL should “fire or suspend” those who kneel during the anthem.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired!'” Trump said at one rally.
In a 2018 interview, he doubled down, saying that those who don’t respect the anthem possibly shouldn’t be in the United States at all.
“You have to stand proudly for the National Anthem,” he said in a Fox News interview, adding that players who do not stand “shouldn’t be playing.”
“Maybe they shouldn’t be in the country,” Trump added.