Vice President Kamala Harris sidestepped answering straight whether or not she believes athletes ought to stand for the nationwide anthem throughout an unearthed 2016 interview, as a substitute delivering a rambling response that’s at the moment receiving backlash on social media forward of the overall election.
Whereas serving as attorney general of California, Harris joined PBS reporter David Nazar to debate her Senate run and marketing campaign platforms on points similar to prison justice reform, the Black Lives Matter motion and the financial system in California. Through the dialogue, Nazar pressed Harris if she believes athletes ought to stand for the nationwide anthem.
“Ought to people stand for the nationwide anthem?” Nazar requested within the interview, which was revealed in October 2016.
Harris’ response centered on Individuals’ rights protected in the Constitution, and didn’t embrace a direct reply on whether or not athletes ought to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“We’re all, and ought to be, handled as equals. We articulated these ideas in our Structure. And a part of what we determined is what makes a good and simply and noble society in a democracy, a real democracy, is freedom of faith, freedom, proper, of affiliation, freedom to prepare, First Modification,” she responded.
“So, that’s a part of who we’re as a rustic, and I’ll defend it to the core, which is that we give individuals, sure decisions on this nation.”
PRO ATHLETES WHO STOOD FOR NATIONAL ANTHEM AMID FEVER PITCH TO SUPPORT SOCIAL JUSTICE INITIATIVES
Vice President Kamala Harris throughout a marketing campaign occasion on the Philip Chosky Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos)
In 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick grew to become the primary NFL player to kneel through the nationwide anthem to protest police brutality and racism. The type of protest, which started in Harris’ yard of San Francisco, quickly unfold to different sports activities leagues and athletes.
Athletes similar to Megan Rapinoe knelt for the anthem forward of soccer video games in 2016, whereas Bruce Maxwell grew to become the primary Main League Baseball athlete to kneel through the nationwide anthem in 2017.
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The type of protest hit a fever pitch in 2020 following the loss of life of George Floyd in Minneapolis throughout an interplay with police. Scores of athletes knelt forward of video games that 12 months through the anthem, whereas the NBA unveiled a court docket painted with “Black Lives Matter” amid social justice protests that 12 months, and a few Olympians took a knee through the Tokyo Video games.
San Francisco 49ers, from left, Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid kneel on the sideline through the nationwide anthem earlier than the Dallas Cowboys recreation at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 2, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Photos)
The protests had been slammed by conservatives within the U.S., together with former President Trump, who ripped the athletes for politicizing video games.
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“I believe it’s been horrible for basketball. Take a look at the basketball scores. They’re right down to very low numbers. Individuals are indignant about it. They don’t understand.… They’ve enough politics with guys like me. They don’t want extra as they’re driving down… going up for the shot. They don’t want it. There’s a nastiness in regards to the NBA about the way in which it was achieved too. So I believe the NBA is in bother. It’s in huge bother. Larger bother than they perceive,” Trump mentioned in 2020.
Former President Trump listens at a city corridor marketing campaign occasion at Macomb Neighborhood Faculty, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Warren, Michigan. (AP Picture/Alex Brandon)
Trump additionally posted to X, then Twitter, that kneeling for the nationwide anthem is “an indication of nice disrespect for our Nation and our Flag,” saying the “recreation is over” for him when he spots an athlete kneeling.
Harris’ unearthed interview was criticized on social media this week, with OutKick founder Clay Travis saying Harris delivered a “lengthy jumble of nothingness.”
Fox Information Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the 2016 interview, however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Harris defended athletes who knelt through the anthem in 2017, after she was elected senator, saying they shouldn’t be “threatened or bullied” for the protest.
“Let’s converse the reality that when Individuals demand recognition that their lives matter, or kneel to name consideration to injustice, that that’s an expression of free speech, protected by our Structure, and so they shouldn’t be threatened or bullied,” Harris mentioned throughout an occasion in Atlanta, the Hill reported at the time.
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“After we sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ we rightly take into consideration the courageous women and men from all backgrounds who proudly defend the liberty of these they could by no means meet and individuals who won’t ever know their names. After we sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ we additionally take into consideration these marching within the streets who demand that the beliefs of that flag symbolize them too,” she added.
