A Republican congressman alluded to the Nazi salute in a cringeworthy tweet that denounced support of the NFL players protest.
Rep. Pete King, who represents New York's 2nd District in Washington D.C., took to Twitter on Saturday to disparage his local team's plan to circumvent the NFL's new, zero-tolerance policy on the national anthem protest.
King specifically targeted New York Jets CEO Christopher Johnson, who pledged to pay all fines incurred by his players who kneel during the national anthem during this upcoming season.
King tweeted:
Disgraceful that @nyjets owner will pay fines for players who kneel for National Anthem. Encouraging a movement premised on lies vs. police. Would he support all player protests? Would he pay fines of players giving Nazi salutes or spew racism? It’s time to say goodbye to Jets!
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) May 26, 2018
King's stance on the national anthem protest was not all that surprising considering he has backed President Donald Trump's rebukes on the subject in the past. King has publicly stated that he was "proud to stand with Trump" on the controversial issue and called on everyone to support "America's military and police."
King's latest tweet, however, demonstrates a new level of contempt from the congressman. It also reveals his complete lack of understanding of world history.
In 1934, the Third Reich banned a German soccer team for refusing to do the Nazi salute. Newspaper clippings from the time explain that the Karlsruhe Football Club received a twelve-month ban after failing to give the Nazi salute before a match in France. The German club did not make this decision in protest of the Nazi regime. Rather, the French side had threatened to boycott the game if the German players participated in the disdained performance, so the German team acted accordingly. Snopes found a digital copy of the article archived in the National Library of Australia.
Regardless of the German players' motivations, it is ironic that King would compare the Nazi salute to athletes kneeling during the national anthem. The NFL protests began because black players felt as if their community was unfairly treated by the police and that there civil rights were constantly violated. This message has wholly escaped Trump supporters, such as King, who view the national anthem as a mandatory act of national pride and patriotism. That the Nazi's placed so much emphasis on the salute should give normal Americans pause about the meaning and significance of the national anthem. That the Nazi's took punitive actions against those who refused to respect the salute should trouble Americans who feel as if the current administration has spread its authoritarian tendencies.
The debate over the merits of the protests, and their overall effectiveness, only took on more notoriety when Trump offered his nationalistic position that players "shouldn't be playing" and maybe "shouldn't be in the country," in an interview on Fox & Friends.
Meanwhile, New York Jets ownership, which CEO Johnson is a part of, has offered solidarity with the players.
Statement from Chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson pic.twitter.com/4JObk43oDT
— New York Jets (@nyjets) May 23, 2018
Johnson has also put his money where his mouth is.
“I do not like imposing any club-specific rules,” Johnson told Newsday. “If somebody [on the Jets] takes a knee, that fine will be borne by the organization, by me, not the players. I never want to put restrictions on the speech of our players. Do I prefer that they stand? Of course. But I understand if they felt the need to protest. There are some big, complicated issues that we’re all struggling with, and our players are on the front lines. I don’t want to come down on them like a ton of bricks, and I won’t. There will be no club fines or suspensions or any sort of repercussions. If the team gets fined, that’s just something I’ll have to bear.”
This reasonable response from an NFL team somehow enraged a congressman to the point that he would drop his fandom. King's histrionics were obviously the manifestation of a political calculation. King has decided that he should run towards the brewing culture war as opposed to adopting the Karlsruhe Football Club's blueprint--simply refusing to participate.
Shares