Upon closer investigation, can a hypocrite really believe anything at all?
The National Anthem protest has become a very controversial movement during the 2017-2018 NFL season. Many people, including players, team staff, and others, would kneel rather than stand during the anthem. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the movement during the 2016-2017 season in response to police brutality against African Americans, but it’s true meaning is divided between many ideas. President Donald Trump responded during a rally in Alabama. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘Get that son of a b**** off the field right now.’” He believes that the players kneeling during the National Anthem is a sign of disrespect towards our nation, and he will not tolerate this level of contempt on a nationwide scale.
Three weeks prior to the Alabama speech, white supremacists rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of Confederate statues from their cities. These groups included members of the KKK, Neo-Nazis, Neo-Confederates, and other right-wing extremists.They were met by counter-protesters, including organizations such as Black Lives Matter, the Democratic Socialists of America, and even members of Antifa along with police forces who pushed them back and fought the far right demonstrators. Soon, the rally turned violent and fighting ensued on a large scale. Three people died during the protests, and almost forty people were injured. In a statement following the rally, President Trump tweeted that it wasn’t right to remove “our beautiful statues and monuments.” He believes that it is an important part of “our history and culture” that should be preserved.
In Alabama, Trump says it is un-American to disrespect the flag by kneeling during the National Anthem. On Twitter, Trump says it is un-American to remove statues of soldiers who disrespected that flag by literally fighting against it. WHAT? How can anyone who believes in respecting the flag believe in honoring soldiers who hated and fought against that same flag? It doesn’t seem morally or logically possible. You either have to believe in one or the other. There really is no in between when it comes to the attitude that people should have towards our flag.
So, does he believe anything at all?
These two instances completely contradict each other. The amount of hypocrisy apparently doesn’t faze our president because, as long as it promotes his personal agenda, he thinks he can do whatever he wants. Trump wants the entire nation to line up with him and what he says. If he thinks that people need to stand for the flag to show “respect,” then that’s what he stands for. However, does he even realize that the statues of the soldiers that he is defending represent a confederacy that disrespected and tried to bring that same flag flag down? No. He just says what he wants at the moment.
