New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees Fires Back At Donald Trump

On Friday, Donald Trump criticized New Orleans Saints star Drew Brees after the quarterback apologized for his comments against kneeling during the national anthem in the wake of the George Floyd protests, tweeting about how Brees shouldn’t have backed down.

Brees initially apologized Thursday morning in a lengthy Instagram message. He admitted that he made comments that were “insensitive and completely missed the mark on what we are facing right now as a country.”

Trump took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Brees:

“I am a big fan of Drew Brees. I think he’s truly one of the greatest quarterbacks, but he should not have taken back his original stance on honoring our magnificent American Flag,” the president wrote on Twitter.

“OLD GLORY is to be revered, cherished, and flown high … We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag – NO KNEELING!”

…We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag – NO KNEELING!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2020

Drew Brees fired back at Trump Friday night with a lengthy Instagram post:

“To President Trump: Through my ongoing conversations with friends, teammates, and leaders in the black community, I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities.

We did this back in 2017, and regretfully I brought it back with my comments this week. We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform.

We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history! If not now, then when?

We as a white community need to listen and learn from the pain and suffering of our black communities. We must acknowledge the problems, identify the solutions, and then put this into action. The black community cannot do it alone. This will require all of us.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

To @realdonaldtrump Through my ongoing conversations with friends, teammates, and leaders in the black community, I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities. We did this back in 2017, and regretfully I brought it back with my comments this week. We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform. We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history! If not now, then when? We as a white community need to listen and learn from the pain and suffering of our black communities. We must acknowledge the problems, identify the solutions, and then put this into action. The black community cannot do it alone. This will require all of us.

A post shared by Drew Brees (@drewbrees) on Jun 5, 2020 at 7:10pm PDT

The quarterback’s remarks seemed to align with comments from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell earlier Friday.

“We, at the National Football League, believe Black Lives Matter,” Goodell said. “I personally protest with you and want to be part of the much needed change in this country.”