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Donald Trump’s relationship with the NFL seems to be an emotional roller coaster that ranges from him calling professional athletes “sons of b**ches” for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial injustice, to extending an alleged olive branch.
On Friday (June 8), Trump announced that he wants the players to give him suggestions on “friends” or “people they know about” who should receive pardons.
“They’re not proud enough to stand for our national anthem, I don’t like that,” said Trump. “I’m going to ask them to recommend to me people that were unfairly treated, friends of theirs or people that they know about, and I’m going to take a look at those applications and if I find, and my committee finds, that they’re unfairly treated then we will pardon them, or at least let them out.”
The news comes days after the Philadelphia Eagles were disinvited from the White House over what Trump claimed was a disagreement about the national anthem. This week also found Trump commuting the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson a 63-year-old great grandmother sentenced to life for a non-violent first time drug offense. Johnson served over 20 years before she was released on Wednesday (June 6). Since Johnson was granted clemency and not a pardon, she is still a convicted felon and may find trouble getting a job, and according to Tennessee’s state law, she could either be denied the right to vote, or have her voting rights restored.
Nonetheless, Johnson is thankful for Kim Kardashian West, who helped publicize her case and met with Trump at the White House last week, as well as the POTUS himself.
“My message to President Trump is thank you so much for taking the time to really look at my case and to really look at me,” Johnson told Fox News this week. “As I’ve said, before I promise you president Trump that I will make you proud that you gave me that second chance.”
In other Trump news, the commander in chief may be subpoenaed in Colin Kaepernick’s NFL collusion lawsuit. Sources close to the case claim Kap’s lawyer will argue that Trump directly influenced the league’s newly-minted decision to ban players from kneeling during the anthem. Per the new rule, which was said to have received a unanimous vote from team owners, players can choose to stay in the locker room during the anthem, but will face fines for taking a knee on the field.