Over the weekend, the president of the United States swore at NFL players and called for them to be fired for kneeling in protest of racial inequality.

Although his base loved it, many were quick to criticize the move, including members of his own party, who themselves got on bended knee to beg the president to put as much effort (or any effort) into helping them to pass their repeal of Obamacare this week.

Instead, on healthcare Trump said according to the Hill, “That’s the end of that.”

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have said that they won’t be backing the bill. Susan Collins (R-ME) has said that she doesn’t see herself voting for it either.

A new tax plan and a Hillary Clinton-esque e-mail scandal are brewing for the Trump administration as well. And this weekend, North Korea gave a no-nonsense speech at the U.N., saying that it wasn’t going to stop developing nuclear weapons, and what’s more, that Donald Trump’s words make “our rocket’s visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable,” the Independent reports.

With all that (not to mention other domestic issues such as St. Louis, Puerto Rico’s destruction and Harvey/Irma clean-up) on his plate, the president sent out a new series of tweets criticizing the NFL and its players.

Although there were protests before the president's tweets, the attention he has brought to the issue has created something of a snowball effect.

Restaurants didn't show NFL games amid the controversy, per ABC Alabama, and many prominent figures decided to speak up about the NFL protests and Trump’s subsequent response to them.

Actor Jesse Williams defended the protests on MSNBC, calling the national anthem nothing but a "scam" for military recruitment. 

“It’s also important to realize this anthem thing is a scam,” Williams said. “This is not actually part of football. This was invented in 2009 from the government paying the NFL to market military recruitment to get more people to go off and fight wars to die.”

“This has nothing to do with [the] NFL, or American pastime or tradition,” Williams added. “This is to get boys and girls to go fly overseas and go kill people. They’re marketing. They’re pumping millions and millions of dollars into the NFL to get us to put on a pageant in front of the NFL football games to get you to go off and fight.”

Michael Jordan, who is known for remaining mum on controversial political issues during his NBA career has begun to speak up more nowadays. “One of the fundamental rights this country is founded on was freedom of speech, and we have a long tradition of nonviolent, peaceful protest. Those who exercise the right to peacefully express themselves should not be demonized or ostracized,” Jordan told the Charlotte Observer.

“At a time of increasing divisiveness and hate in this country, we should be looking for ways to work together and support each other and not create more division," Jordan continued while adding that he supports the NBA and the players in their choice to exercise their free speech rights.

Rep. John Lewis rightfully noted that #TakeTheKnee was a part of history:

Naturally, Twitter went ham on Trump in a series of tweets, some of which included quoting words by a"real president," Barack Obama. From hurricane relief to business shade, Twitter had every aspect of the clapback covered! 

Amongst the shade and jokes, The Democratic Coalition filed a legit ethics complaint against the president for his calls for NFL protesters to be fired:

Oh, and let's not forget the fear impending war that is slipping right on by Trump:

Photo: GIPHY

NBANFL ProtestPresident Donald TrumpRace in america