In an early morning tweet, President Trump took aim at another U.S. athlete, calling on the NFL to suspend Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch.
Before Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots in Mexico City, Lynch sat during most of the U.S. national anthem and stood for the Mexican anthem. Trump tweeted, "Great disrespect! Next time the NFL should suspend him for the remainder of the season."
Lynch is among many players who have taken a knee, sat or raised a fist during the anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality. He has not stood for the anthem since returning from his retirement season.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf quickly fired back at the commander-in-chief: “Let’s suspend @realDonaldTrump instead.”
Lynch’s mother, Delisa Lynch, also lobbed a tweet Trump’s way asking what NFL team he owns. “Oh yeah, they wouldn't let him have one.”
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the movement last season of taking a knee during the anthem.
Since leaving the 49ers, Kaepernick has not been offered another NFL contract.
Trump has tweeted dozens of times against the mostly African-American players engaging in the protest.
“He has been targeting athletes largely from regions where he has no hope of winning the electoral vote," said Daniel Durbin, director of the USC Annenberg Institute of Sports, Media & Society.
“It makes it easy to use them as whipping posts -- in order to try and foment interest and support from people who are not from those regions of the country," he said.
Over the weekend Trump called out three UCLA basketball players, saying he should have left them in jail in China after they were caught shoplifting in Hangzhou. Trump helped arrange their release, but said in a Sunday tweet that the father of player LiAngelo Ball was “unaccepting” of his efforts.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday that Trump was just being rhetorical when he said he should have left the players in a Chinese jail.
Durbin said Trump is adept at using his Twitter account “to disrupt conversation and direct it in ways that benefit him.” Since he’s the president of the United States, Durbin says, the press is forced to cover his constant tweets.
Earlier this year, Trump called on the NFL to fire all players who kneel during the anthem.
To date, the NFL has said it will not force players to stand for the anthem.
Neither the NFL nor the players union responded to requests for comment on Trump’s latest tweet against Lynch.
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