Our coverage of today’s White House event has concluded.
A source close to the White House says the President plans to continue to pound the NFL National Anthem issue through the midterms.
Another person familiar with his thinking says Trump has touted this issue before as something that could help him in the midterms, and wants to keep it in the bloodstream.
Sen. Cory Gardner was asked about whether this issue would help the GOP pick up senate seats in November — and he didn’t say no.
President Trump attended a “celebration of America” event at the White House this afternoon instead of hosting the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles were supposed to be at the White House today to celebrate their Super Bowl victory, but Trump canceled the meeting due to the controversy over standing for the National Anthem at NFL games.
As Trump left the event to return to the Oval Office, several people shouted questions at him about the team and the NFL protests.
Trump did not answer any of them.
The Supreme Court yesterday ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake to celebrate a same sex couple’s marriage because of a religious objection — a decision the Trump administration supports.
However, President Trump has continuously criticized NFL players who protest by kneeling during the National Anthem. The White House press secretary was just asked about the two cases.
“If the White House supports the baker’s right of free speech, why doesn’t the White House support the players’ right to free speech?” a reporter asked.
Here’s how Sanders responded:
A lengthy back-and-forth ensued. Watch the whole discussion in the video below:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday she believes her “credibility is probably higher than the media’s.”
Sanders comment came as she refused for the second day in a row to correct the record or address why she claimed in August that the President did not dictate the initial statement Don Jr. statement about his Trump Tower meeting. The President’s lawyers have since said the President did dictate the statement.
Here’s what she said:
President Trump tweeted about his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, this morning, again suggesting he could have picked another person for the job.
Sarah Sanders was just asked about the tweet. Here’s how the exchange went down:
Q: “The President again took a stick to his favorite piñata, Jeff Sessions, today. What is the President’s goal here?”
A: “Look, the President’s made his position on this extremely clear, and I don’t have anything to add beyond that.”
Sarah Sanders refused again on Tuesday to correct her August statement that President Trump wasn’t involved in drafting a misleading statement about his son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower.
“I’m not going to go into detail and go into a back and forth. I know that you guys would love to engage on matters of conversations between the special counsel and the outside counsel, but we purposefully” remain separate from special counsel matters, the press secretary said when pressed by CNN’s Pamela Brown.
A day earlier, Sanders referred questions on the matter to the President’s outside counsel. The President’s lawyer did respond, saying Trump did dictate the statement. Rudy Giuliani later said it was a mistake to say he didn’t.
But Sanders insisted she remain “walled off” from the outside counsel’s work.
“I’m not going to get into back and forth on that,” she said.
“I think you all know I’m an honest person,” she added.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today he was canceling the Senate’s August recess. The White House said it applauds that decision.
Trump had pressured McConnell to cancel the recess.
Sarah Sanders was asked if President Trump’s cancellation of the Eagles White House visit was about the National Anthem.
The same reporter pointed out that the no one on the team knelt during the entire season. Sanders said it wasn’t about the kneeling, but rather that the Eagles changed the commitment.
“The Eagles are the ones that tried to change their commitment at the 11th hour and the President frankly thinks that the fans deserve better than that and, therefore, we changed the ceremony to be a focus on celebrating our great country,” she said.
The Philadelphia Eagles told the White House in recent days that 81 people from its organization were expected to attend the celebration at the White House, according to a senior administration official.
Then, on Monday, the administration was informed that less than ten people, including coaches and athletic trainers, were scheduled to attend the event.
Trump mentioned the low expected attendance in his tweet describing his decision to call off the event:
Sarah Sanders will take the podium at 2:15 p.m. ET.
This comes after President Trump canceled a visit from the Philadelphia Eagles. She will speak shortly before the President holds his own event, dubbed as a “celebration of America.”
Tweeting last night about his decision to cancel the Philadelphia Eagles’ White House visit, Trump twice mentioned the league’s locker rooms:
What’s this all about? Last month, the NFL announced it would require athletes to stand during the National Anthem in response to players who took a knee as protest to what some players see as the systemic oppression of people of color. The policy gives players the option to remain in the locker room during the anthem if they do not wish to comply.
An important note: The Eagles have not stayed in the locker room as a means of protesting the anthem. They are, however, some of the most outspoken social justice activists in the NFL, and multiple players took part in the protests during the anthem over the last two seasons.
President Trump announced last night that he was canceling today’s scheduled Philadelphia Eagles White House visit. His tweets cited poor attendance and the controversy over standing for the National Anthem at NFL games.
There will be another event today at the White House today instead. Trump will host an event to “celebrate America.”
Trump said the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus will be at the 3 p.m. event. The National Anthem will be played.
The National Football League Players Association says it is disappointed President Trump canceled today’s White House visit for the 2018 Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.
The last-minute cancelation forced some of the players to call off DC-area community service events, the group said.
Here’s the full statement:
President Trump announced last night that he canceled the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles’ White House visit due to the controversy over standing for the National Anthem at NFL games, President Donald Trump announced Monday.
It’s an unprecedented move by Trump: The President typically invites the champions of major professional and college sports to the White House for a visit as a part of their victory celebrations.
Players on the Eagles are some of the most outspoken social justice activists in the NFL, and multiple players took part in the protests during the anthem over the last two seasons. Many players from the team were not planning on attending the ceremony as a protest of Trump, his policies and his outspoken criticism of players who chose to kneel during the anthem.
