U.S. Vice President Mike Pence left an NFL game in protest overnight, after players took the knee during the American national anthem – but some critics think his departure was planned in advance, as opposed to a ‘genuine’, immediate reaction to the players’ actions.
Pence, who attended a home game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers, departed the stadium shortly after the protest. Taking to Twitter afterwards, Pence wrote “I left today’s Colts game because [President Donald Trump] and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”
We were proud to stand – with all our @Colts – for our soldiers, our flag, and our National Anthem 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/mkZiKMkPDD
— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) October 8, 2017
The first player to kneel during the anthem was former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose peaceful protest in 2016 intended to draw attention to police brutality and racial inequality in America.
After Donald Trump recently launched an invective against NFL players who chose to take the knee, the protest was widely adopted by players across the league. That is to say it wasn’t exactly a shock when players actually did drop to their knee.
Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel wrote that Pence had attended the game (well, the brief few minutes before the game) for purely political motives, straight-up saying “this was planned.”
Doyel went harder on the ideological bastardry of it all:
It’s one thing for you to rip NFL players for kneeling during the anthem. They have the right to kneel, and you have the right to hate it…
But when the top two elected leaders of our democracy decide that political speech – in this case, a silent and non-violent form of political speech – is unacceptable to the point of walking out of the game where it happens, well, that’s chilling.
Others have backed up the claim that Pence never intended to stick around for long. NBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard, who is part of the press pool which follows Pence around, tweeted that journos were given a tip-off beforehand.
As media pool has been made aware, a staffer told pool that VPOTUS may depart the game early. Did not indicate how early. https://t.co/G1f2WljJAW
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) October 8, 2017
Shortly after Hillyard’s tweet, Trump himself made it known he’d advised Pence on the manoeuvre.
I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017
Hillyard pushed Pence’s crew, and… nothing.
Asked about whether this happened, top Pence aide referred back to the president’s tweet. The VP’s staff is giving no additional comment beyond tweeted statements. https://t.co/pCFlrHWFKs
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) October 8, 2017
While observers were left to wonder about the huge amount of taxpayer funding that went to Pence’s travel and security allowance in order to pull the apparent stunt, 49ers player Eric Reid said the move was tantamount to a PR stunt, and was indicative of systemic oppression.
Statement by @E_Reid35 regarding the Vice President’s brief appearance at the game. “This is what systemic oppression looks like.” pic.twitter.com/Aoy2GWons2
— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) October 8, 2017
If there’s one potential upside to this, it’s that footy fans would be able to see through the hypocrisy of it all. Hopefully.
