Posted on 09/23/2017 7:05:05 PM PDT by jazusamo
Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell became the first Major League Baseball player to kneel during the national anthem Saturday, after President Trump criticized athletes for the form of protest.
Photos from the game show Maxwell kneeling with his hand on his heart and facing the American flag during the national anthem. Teammate Mark Canh was seen placing his hand on Maxwell's shoulder.
Maxwell is the son of a U.S. soldier and was born on a military base in Germany.
His decision to kneel follows comments from Trump during a Friday rally in Alabama in which he called on NFL owners to fire any "son of a b----" players on their teams who kneel during the national anthem before games or disrespect the American flag.
Trump told the crowd they should leave in protest if they see a player kneeling during the anthem.
"When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they are playing our great national anthem – the only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it's one player, leave the stadium," Trump said. "I guarantee things will stop."
Trump doubled down on his comments in a pair of tweets Saturday, saying NFL players who protest the flag or anthem "should find something else to do."
Maxwell, earlier in the day, took to Twitter and Instagram to hit the president over the comments.
"Yeah, f--- this guy! Our president speaks of inequality of man because players are protesting the anthem! F--- this man! Seriously on the highest platform for our country expressing that it is OK for there to be division of man and rights!" he wrote on Instagram .
"This now has gone from just a BlackLives Matter topic to just complete inequality of any man or woman that wants to stand for Their rights!" he also tweeted earlier Saturday.
Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first began the controversy last year when he began kneeling during the national anthem before football games to in a statement against racial injustice and police brutality.
Other football players have followed suit, but Maxwell is the first baseball player to kneel during the anthem.
“It may be spilling over to college.”
Soon it will spill over to Congress. Watch for black caucasians and white leftists kneel next time the national anthem is played there. Solidarity, you know...
Five years from now Kraperdick will be nominated for sainthood.
And here I thought my refuge from all this political sports crap was baseball. Now, those “sons of bitches” have joined in. The hell with them all!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s times like this I wish I was the owner. I would have called down to Bob Melvin and said, “Have security escort that bum out of the stadium. He is released as of this moment!”
“F- you, Melvin! I got a right to protest!”
“Not in that uniform. Not on this field. You can protest out in the streets but not when you represent the Oakland A’s!”
I can dream. Meanwhile, I was too pissed to watch the game. It’s okay, because the end result was my team limping its way out of the wild card discussion.
For MLB it will be worse. Their contracts are guaranteed.
Bring the players off the field for the Anthem. It’s the best solution because no one will like it.
College basketball plays the Anthem while the players are in the locker room.
That has serious tagline potential.
I'm really surprised that hasn't been done yet.
Hey ! I never knew there were try outs !!
Where's the sign up sheet ?
I know one of the Stanford choristers who performed the anthem at the As game on Friday. I haven’t heard what the young men thought of the disrespectful display, but I can’t imagine they were happy about it.
It’s not cultural suicide, in this age of globalist progressive activism it is cultural murder. Anything and everything to destroy America.
Football, baseball, American exceptionalism in anything is a target.
Treason is the fashion of the day in leftist circles.
Lightman, you and humblegunner remind every man of their ex-wife.
Yeah, but at least you knew it was all phony! Not like these millionaire future prison inmates.
Good point.
I’m starting to think those involved would rather this controversy not go away.
There is only a week left in the regular season and Oakland is not making the playoffs, so they probably won’t do anything about it for the moment. Let’s see what they do in the offseason.
They should release him, or at the very LEAST outright him off the 40-man roster.
MLB better step on this crap right quick, or they’ll end up in the Krapper along with Krappernick and the NFL.
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