memeorandum: NFL players, coaches, owners lock arms, kneel during national anthem (ESPN)

5:10 PM ET, September 24, 2017

Top Items:

N.F.L.: Seahawks and Titans Skip National Anthem After Trump Comments — 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: The Hill, The Atlantic, Washington Monthly, Tennessean.com, Baltimore Sun, Axios, MelaniePhillips.com, ProFootballTalk, Seahawks Wire, Business Insider, Mediaite, TMZ.com, WFLA-TV, IJR, Deadline, twitchy.com and ThinkProgress

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

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.

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

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, Mediaite, USA Today, Business Insider and TMZ.com

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 …

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.

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Mnuchin: NFL players ‘can do free speech on their own time’

Discussion: Seahawks Wire, FOX6Now.com, Mashable, ABC News, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Mediaite, IJR, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Axios, AOL, Deadspin, BBC, NBC News and Common Dreams

Mike Allen / Axios:
What Trump, the NFL are thinking

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

ESPN:
NFL players, coaches, owners lock arms, kneel during national anthem

Discussion: Breitbart, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, New York Magazine and Refinery29

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

Discussion: Fox News Insider and IJR

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

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, AOL, TheBlaze, CBS New York, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Mediaite, CBS Boston and IJR

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

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

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Kushner used private email to conduct White House business — Presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has corresponded with other administration officials about White House matters through a private email account set up during the transition last December …

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and twitchy.com

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Sen. Rand Paul lays out demands on health care as talks continue — The embattled Republican effort to repeal the nation's health-care law now centers on winning over a hard-line conservative, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who continues to engage with President Trump and Senate leaders …

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

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

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

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

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

“How do you sleep at night?”: Former NFL player schools head of Trump's diversity coalition — Today was not a good day for Trump apologists, as even the head of his so-called “diversity coalition” got slammed on live television by former NFL player Chris Kluwe.

Discussion: Mediaite

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:
“Stupid as a rock”: Dem rep nails Steve Mnuchin for denying NFL players' First Amendment rights

Discussion: IJR

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

Douglas E. Schoen / The Hill:

If Hillary truly loves America, she should support President Trump — BY DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 09/24/17 09:00 AM EDT THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL — , during a recent interview promoting her new book …

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Trump seen by 66 percent in US as doing more to divide than unite country (POLL)

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: The Hill, NPR, RedState, CNBC and Mother Jones

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.

Discussion: National Review

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: Washington Post, Raw Story, USA Today 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.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

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