Eleanor Service |
US Vice-President Mike Pence walked out of an NFL game on Sunday, supposedly in protest after players refused to stand during the National Anthem. But, there has been heated debate over the validity of the protest, as many claim it was a pre-planned PR stunt.
Recently, the headlines have been flooded with news about President Trump expressing outrage over the “#TakeAKnee” movement – which involves players refusing to stand during the American National Anthem in peaceful protest of social injustice – in no uncertain terms. VP Pence has voiced his support for Trump on this issue. For more information, see here.
On Sunday night, VP Mike Pence, and Second Lady Karen Pence attended a Colts vs. 49ers game, one of many Colts’ games they have been to, tweeting out:
However, once roughly a dozen 49er players refused to stand for the anthem, and some Colts’ players linked arms and adorned black t-shirts bearing the words “Stand for equality, justice, unity, respect, dialogue, opportunity”, Pence walked out of the stadium.
His official stance on this move is that it was in protest of the “#TakeAKnee” movement because he considers it disrespectful to the American flag. He tweeted: “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”
But critics claim that this trip was simply a PR stunt designed to aid the President’s image, all on the taxpayer’s dollar. These suspicions arose when White House Reporters said that they were not taken into the stadium, and were told in advance that they might be leaving early. This seriously brings into question whether this was a geniune protest or a colluded stunt.
On Saturday he flew in from Las Vegas, and was then on a flight to California the next day, all courtesy of Air Force Two, the VP’s government plane. According to a tweet from a CNN reporter, this plane costs £32,000 to fly per trip. And is all financed by the government, which means Sunday’s trip could have cost $200,000 of the taxpayer’s money.
Pence remains defiant though, as he made this statement in light of his walkout.
49ers player Eric Reid even said he believed the whole thing was a PR stunt, so it is looking more and more like a bid for attention on Pence’s part, saying “This is what systemic oppression looks like,”…”A man with power comes to the game, tweets a couple things out and leaves the game in an attempt to thwart our efforts.”
This is all makes it abundantly clear that NFL players are sick of the shortcomings of the government, and are simply attempting to affect change social injustice peacefull, but Trump will not relent.
He tweeted his strong support of Pence’s actions saying that the trip was “long-planned” and stipulating that it was in no way a PR stunt. He tweeted:
At this stage it is impossible to untagle this web fully and uncover the truth, but as of this moment, VP Pence needs to reevaluate his situation and make it right. For the good of the people he serves.
You must be logged in to post a comment.