At the beginning of the month, President Donald Trump offered professional athletes protesting the National Anthem to share names of people they believed should be pardoned for their non-violent crimes, but Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is not buying it.
The two-time Pro Bowl receiver told TMZ Sports he thinks Trump is “close-minded” and would not listen because he thinks the National Anthem protests are about the flag instead of social injustices.
“I think Trump is more closed-minded and he thinks the reason that we’re kneeling is because of the flag when that’s like not at all the reason we’re kneeling,” Hopkins stated. “I kneeled last year and one of my best friends is a Purple Heart veteran and my uncle is a Purple Heart veteran and they understand that it’s not about the flag. But, when a general person like that makes it look like, ‘Alright, they’re doing this because of the flag.’ Then, of course, his followers are going to think the same. But, that’s not the case at all, you know?”
When Kaepernick first protested the National Anthem in 2016, he said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
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