memeorandum: UNC national championship team not visiting White House (Andrew Carter/The Charlotte Observer)

3:45 PM ET, September 24, 2017

Top Items:

Trump demands NFL teams ‘fire or suspend’ players or risk fan boycott — SOMERSET, N.J. — President Trump on Sunday morning renewed his demand that NFL owners fire or suspend players who kneel during the national anthem in protest, again urging that fans should boycott the sport to force change.

Discussion: Fox News, Shareblue, ThinkProgress, Power Line, Fox News Insider, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Deadspin, The Hill, IJR, Political Wire, BBC, USA Today, CBS New York, NBC News and The Atlantic

New York Times:

Trump Endorses N.F.L. Players Locking Arms, but Condemns Kneeling — N.F.L. players across the country demonstrated during the national anthem on Sunday in a show of solidarity against President Trump, who scolded the league and players on Twitter this weekend.

Discussion: Tennessean.com, Washington Monthly, Axios, ProFootballTalk, Business Insider, WFLA-TV, Mediaite, TMZ.com, twitchy.com, Deadline, IJR and ThinkProgress

Sporting News:

Steelers will remain in locker room for national anthem in Chicago, Mike Tomlin says — As part of a wave of protests throughout the NFL in the wake of President Donald Trump's NFL-related comments, the Steelers will not be on the field for the playing of the national anthem before their game against the Bears on Sunday.

Discussion: Washington Post, MichelleMalkin.com, USA Today, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Ringer - All and TMZ.com

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Mnuchin: NFL players ‘can do free speech on their own time’ … Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday defended President Trump's attacks on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, saying members of the league “can do free speech on their own time.”

Discussion: ABC News, FOX6Now.com, Hullabaloo, IJR, Balloon Juice, Axios, AOL, Mediaite and Common Dreams

Sally Jenkins / Washington Post:

What President Trump doesn't get about the NFL — How the NFL responds to Donald Trump's spit-foaming is hardly a test case for whether the republic will stand. Nevertheless, the league is a maker of manners in this country, so it means something that Commissioner Roger Goodell and others …

Mike Allen / Axios:

What Trump, the NFL are thinking — White House director of social media Dan Scavino last evening cc'd Brian McCarthy, the NFL's vice president of communications (@NFLprguy), on a Trump tweet criticizing Commissioner Roger Goodell. — The taunt reflects the fact that far from being sheepish …

Discussion: Politico, Instapundit, Washington Free Beacon and The Hill

Justin Coleman / ABC News:
NFL players can have the ‘First Amendment off the field’: Treasury chief Mnuchin says

Discussion: Fox News Insider and IJR

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Trump Calls for Boycott if N.F.L. Doesn't Crack Down on Anthem Protests

Discussion: Fox News, Althouse, ABC News, Outside the Beltway, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, ProFootballTalk, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Ringer - All, The Last Tradition, Mediaite, Mashable, IJR, The Daily Caller and AOL

Cindy Boren / Washington Post:
Jaguars owner joins players during anthem protest in first game since Trump's NFL remarks

Discussion: USA Today, Daily Kos, Business Insider, TheBlaze, IJR, Political Wire, New York Magazine, Mediaite and CBS Boston

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

“Stupid as a rock”: Dem rep nails Steve Mnuchin for denying NFL players' First Amendment rights — Rep. Ted Lieu didn't mince words as he showed Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin what free speech is all about. — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin just got told.

Discussion: IJR

Andrew Carter / The Charlotte Observer:

UNC national championship team not visiting White House — CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina's 2017 national championship men's basketball team will not visit the White House, a team spokesman said on Saturday, though the Tar Heels were invited to visit, as is the custom for teams …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, Doug Ross and Mediaite

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:
White House blows off constitution, declares new limits on free speech for private enterprise

Discussion: USA Today

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:

Cruz opposes latest Obamacare repeal attempt — AUSTIN, Texas — Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday said he doesn't support the latest Obamacare repeal plan, dealing a fresh blow to Republicans' last-ditch effort to kill Barack Obama's signature health care law. — After seven years of promises …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and RedState

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Collins: ‘Very difficult for me to envision a scenario’ where she backs GOP health care bill

Discussion: Vox, New York Magazine and NBC News

Kevin Robillard / Politico: Graham: 'We're going to get the votes next week'

Nicki Zink / ABC News:
GOP health care act sponsor to a Republican opponent: The bill will ‘save a lot of money’

Discussion: Axios and Politico

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

How Trump Bungled the Politics of Football — Colin Kaepernick's protest during the national anthem is an event a more talented or personally disciplined racial demagogue than Donald Trump could have fruitfully exploited. Kaepernick's gesture was rife for hostile interpretation.

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
The dark racial sentiment in Trump's NBA and NFL criticism

ESPN:
Warriors get shunned by president before there could be a dialogue

Discussion: New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Raw Story, The Hill, IJR, Hullabaloo, NBC News, Axios, Associated Press, CBS New York, CBS Miami, AOL, ABC News, The Guardian and Mediaite

David Remnick / New Yorker:
The Racial Demagoguery of Trump's Assaults on Colin Kaepernick and Steph Curry

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, SI.com, CNN and Washington Post

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Trump seen by 66 percent in US as doing more to divide than unite country (POLL) — President Donald Trump faces deep challenges on international and domestic issues alike, with a job approval rating mired in historic lows, a broad sense he's done more to divide than unite the country …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, RedState, The Daily Caller and Opinion Today

William Cummings / USA Today:
Trump threatens ‘Little Rocket Man,’ says Kim may ‘not be around much longer’

Discussion: IJR, Axios and NBC News

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Trump on NK nuclear threats: 'They won't be around much longer'

Discussion: NPR, RedState, CNBC, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and Reuters

Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:

A's Bruce Maxwell first MLB player to kneel for anthem — A's rookie catcher Bruce Maxwell, who earlier in the day profanely bashed President Trump on Instagram, became the first major-league player to kneel during the national anthem on Saturday before Oakland's 1-0 win at the Coliseum.

Discussion: ESPN, Mother Jones, TheBlaze, Deadspin, USA Today, FOX6Now.com, CNN and New York Times

Marissa Payne / Washington Post:
'To single out NFL players for doing this isn't something we should be doing': A's player takes up anthem protest

Discussion: JustOneMinute, USA Today, Daily Wire, Mediaite, FOX6Now.com, Associated Press, ProFootballTalk, Raw Story, The Last Tradition and The Hill

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Exclusive: NFL airing unity ad in prime time on Sunday — With President Trump taking aim at the NFL and its players who protest during the national anthem, the league is broadcasting a message of unity. — The NFL is dusting off a one-minute ad that it produced for the Super Bowl earlier this year.

Discussion: USA Today, ABC News, Raw Story and IJR

CNN:

CNN Poll: Opinion of the Republican Party falls to all-time low — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — WASHINGTON (CNN)There are fresh signs the Republican Party's brand is in trouble. — Fewer than three in 10 Americans — 29% — hold a favorable view of the Republican Party according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Ben Jacobs / The Guardian:

Nigel Farage to support controversial judge Roy Moore in Alabama election … Nigel Farage will speak in Fairhope, Alabama on Monday night, in support of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. — ‘Fire or suspend’: Trump attacks NFL protesters as players kneel in London — Read more

Jonathan Martin / New York Times: Trump's Big Gamble: Can He Pull Alabama Senator to Victory?

Cas Mudde / The Guardian:

What the stunning success of AfD means for Germany and Europe — The radical right party profited from the fact immigration was the number one election issue. But can its breakthrough last? … n 1991 Belgium had its (first) black Sunday, when the populist radical right Flemish Block gained 6.8% of the national vote.