--- title: Trump Advisers Defend President's Attack on NFL Kneeling description: President Trump's aides came to his defense — supporting his ongoing criticism of sports players kneeling during the national anthem canonical: https://time.com/4955038/trump-twitter-nfl-protest/ author: Sophia Rosenbaum article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-24T15:27:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:34:17.090Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump’s Team Plays Defense Amid His Spat With the NFL og:description: "They can do free speech on their own time" og:url: https://time.com/4955038/trump-twitter-nfl-protest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfbebd8f792a3581/6988df28fb4eac6156893da3/colin-kaepernick-kneel.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: San Francisco 49ers v Buffalo Bills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump’s Team Plays Defense Amid His Spat With the NFL twitter:description: "They can do free speech on their own time" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfbebd8f792a3581/6988df28fb4eac6156893da3/colin-kaepernick-kneel.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘They Can Do Free Speech on Their Own Time.” Trump’s Team Plays Defense Amid NFL Spat by [Sophia Rosenbaum](https://time.com/author/sophia-rosenbaum/) ## Sophia Rosenbaum Sep 24, 2017 3:27 PM UTC  Eli Harold #58, Colin Kaepernick #7 and Eric Reid #35 of the San Francisco 49ers kneel in protest during the national anthem on October 16, 2016 in Orchard Park, New York. Eli Harold #58, Colin Kaepernick #7 and Eric Reid #35 of the San Francisco 49ers kneel in protest during the national anthem on October 16, 2016 in Orchard Park, New York.Michael Zagaris—San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images by [Sophia Rosenbaum](https://time.com/author/sophia-rosenbaum/) ## Sophia Rosenbaum Sep 24, 2017 3:27 PM UTC President Trump’s aides came to his defense Sunday — supporting his [ongoing criticism of players](http://time.com/4954684/donald-trump-nfl-speech-anthem-protests/) in the NFL and NBA kneeling during the national anthem. “I think what the president is saying is that the owners should have a rule that players should have to stand in respect for the national anthem,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “This isn’t about Democrats, it’s not about Republicans, it’s not about race, it’s not about free speech.” He continued, “They can do free speech on their own time.” Mnuchin was one of several members of Trump’s team that backed the president’s attacks on the silent protest sweeping the sports world, which started last year when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback [Colin Kaepernick frequently took a knee](http://time.com/4497357/social-activism-kaepernick-nfl/) in an effort to draw attention to police brutality against African Americans. Marc Short, director of the White House’s Legislative Affairs, said Trump’s stance was the same as the “vast majority” of Americans, who he said believe that kneeling during the national anthem is disrespectful. “The president believes it is his role to improve race relations,” Short said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Their comments come three days after Trump tore into Kaepernick-style protests at a rally in Alabama for Sen. Luther Strange. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!” Trump said at the rally. He doubled down on his comments Sunday, taking to Twitter to criticize the NFL’s ratings and encourage fans to boycott upcoming games. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911904261553950720) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911911385176723457) “If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” he tweeted. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4955038/trump-twitter-nfl-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4955038/trump-twitter-nfl-protest/"},"headline":"‘They Can Do Free Speech on Their Own Time.” Trump’s Team Plays Defense Amid NFL Spat","datePublished":"2017-09-24T15:27:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:34:17.090Z","description":"\"They can do free speech on their own time\"","url":"https://time.com/4955038/trump-twitter-nfl-protest/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfbebd8f792a3581/6988df28fb4eac6156893da3/colin-kaepernick-kneel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sophia Rosenbaum","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sophia-rosenbaum/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfbebd8f792a3581/6988df28fb4eac6156893da3/colin-kaepernick-kneel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"San Francisco 49ers v Buffalo Bills","caption":"San Francisco 49ers v Buffalo Bills","creditText":"Michael Zagaris—San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4955038/trump-twitter-nfl-protest/","name":"‘They Can Do Free Speech on Their Own Time.” Trump’s Team Plays Defense Amid NFL Spat"}}]}] ```