Trump turns sports into a political battleground with comments on NFL and Stephen Curry
President Trump turned professional sports into a political battleground Friday night into Saturday, directing full-throated ire toward African American athletes who have spoken out against him and prompting a sharp rebuttal from the National Football League and several prominent sports figures, including the first Major League Baseball player to kneel during the national anthem .
In a span of roughly 12 hours, as the sports world would typically be gearing up for college football and baseball’s pennant races, Trump ensnared and agitated the most powerful sports league in North America and angered NBA superstars Stephen Curry and LeBron James. His comments set the stage for potential mass protest Sunday along NFL sidelines.
At a political rally Friday in Huntsville, Ala., Trump called on NFL owners to release players who demonstrated during the national anthem in the manner of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who knelt last season to draw attention to police violence against African Americans. Saturday morning on Twitter, Trump rescinded a White House visit invitation to Curry of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, although it is unclear whether the Warriors had been invited in the first place.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” Trump posted at 7:45 a.m. Saturday.
The tweet came on the heels of comments he made Friday night at a rally for Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who is running in a special GOP primary election to remain in the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
