On Wednesday, Trump blasted Black Lives Matter.

Speaking to Fox & Friends by phone, he also slammed down onto kneeling athletes like a sledge hammer at the county fair’s High Striker.

Co-host Pete Hegseth asked — what does he think about the recent National Anthem trend?

The big guy’s not for it:

“I think it’s disgraceful.”

TRUMP on Black Lives Matter:

“It’s a Marxist group that is not looking for good things for our country and now I see these leagues all kneeling down and again, nobody has done more for the Black community by far … than I have." pic.twitter.com/p7ObY3UxFT

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) August 5, 2020

The Commander-in-Chief claimed the politics of the game is turning people off:

“We worked with them, we worked with them very hard, trying to get ’em open. I was pushing them to get open. And then I see everybody kneeling during the anthem. It’s not acceptable to me. When I see ’em kneeling, I just turn off the game. I have no interest in the game. … Plenty of other people out there, too.”

There are certainly plenty putting knee to floor — as Pete indicated, “It seems that standing is the new kneeling in the NBA, in that only three players in the [league] — Jonathan Isaac, Meyers Leonard, and a coach, Gregg Popovich — are actually standing…”

And as you surely know, players have been spanking planks coated with “B-L-A-C-K  L-I-V-E-S M-A-T-T-E-R”:

Every player, coach and ref takes a knee during the national anthem before the Pelicans-Jazz game pic.twitter.com/LZy1A6s8VM

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 30, 2020

Trump took the time to assert he’s done well for black Americans:

“Nobody’s done better for our black community than me. … Criminal justice reform, opportunity zones, best employment numbers in history…funding the black colleges and universities…they had no funding. They had to keep coming back to Washington. I took care of ’em for for long term. They’re all set. Nobody’s done for the black community…what I’ve done.”

He’s right about employment: As I covered two years ago, the black unemployment rate had hit 6.6 — the lowest since 1972.

Not everyone on the Left appreciated it — at the time, The View’s Joy Behar had this to say:

“You know what that’s called? It’s called the Big Lie. They’ve used it in other dictatorships.”

And last year, CNN’s Don Lemon appeared to suggest the President spits in black people’s faces.

As for Black Lives Matter™, Trump called out Marxism and a murderous mantra:

“[BLM] — where did it start? Marching down streets chanting, ‘Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon.’ They were talking about police men and women. … [A]ll of a sudden this has taken on this air of great respectability. … It’s a Marxist group that is not looking for good things for our country. And now I see these leagues all kneeling down.”

It is an interesting question: If the words currently sprawled across warm-up shirts and basketball courts refer to the official organization, how did a Marxist-led organization championing the dissolution of the nuclear family secure the warm embrace of professional athletics?

For most viewers, will it matter? In our shut-in era, will people still watch?

Trump pointed out the games are low-scoring:

“The ratings for the basketball are way down, if you know. And I hear some others are way down, too, including baseball. ‘Cause all of a sudden baseball’s in the act.”

Whichever way the cultural wind blows, the President made things clear — he’s going to stand up for what he believes. No matter what the cost, even in November:

“We have to stand up for our flag. We have to stand up for our country. We have to stand up for our anthem. And a lot of people agree with me. Hey, if I’m wrong, I’m gonna lose an election, okay? And that’s okay with me. But I will always stand for our country and our flag.”

-ALEX

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.