Veteran journalist, CNN commentator and NABJ reporter of the year April Ryan famously told The Hill earlier this year, "“I’m not the news. I don’t like being in the news.”

However, Ryan is again part of the story today, after another strange exchange with the president of the United States.

Donald Trump, as most know, is a staunch critic of the #TakeTheKnee protest. It all began when Trump said at a rally, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, say: 'Get that son of a b*tch off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired.'"

And at the White House level, things have escalated from there.

At a White House briefing today, Ryan asked the president about his stance on the protests, adding to her question an explanation of the protests.

“What about police-involved shootings as it relates to the NFL, that is what the players are saying is the crux of why they’re taking a knee, sir — the police-involved shooting issue. What will you do about that?”

With Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) smiling at his side, Trump dodged the crux of Ryan's question like a it was a dodgeball and he was an elite third grader during gym class.

“It is very disrespectful to our country when they take a knee during our national anthem,” he said. “It is very disrespectful to our country when they take a knee during our national anthem, number one. Number two — the people of our country are very angry at the NFL. All you have to do is look at their ratings and look at their stadiums; you see empty seats where you never saw them before. A lot of people are very angry at it. It is highly disrespectful. They shouldn’t do it.”

The president was citing Nielsen data that shows that viewing for the first five weeks of the 2017-2018 NFL season are down 18 percent from the first five weeks of the 2016-2017 season.

And the NFL is now suffering from both sides. Many of those who feel that kneeling during the anthem is disrespectful are turning off their televisions. But so are many of Kap's supporters, who are participating in an NFL boycott as long as he is without a job.

Unfortunately, Ryan wasn't able to ask a follow-up question to get some clarity; the president ended the conference after giving his answer.

You can watch the full exchange below: