E-Paper
Mike Pence speech to involve veterans in rebuttal to athlete protests
The scene, to be staged at historic Fort McHenry outside Baltimore, according to people familiar with the matter, promises to unfold as another example of President Donald Trump’s efforts to use the country’s cultural and racial divisions for political gain.
Vice President Mike Pence’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday will involve combat veterans in a display of patriotism -- imagery intended at least in part as criticism of professional athletes who kneel during the national anthem.
The scene, to be staged at historic Fort McHenry outside Baltimore, according to people familiar with the matter, promises to unfold as another example of President Donald Trump’s efforts to use the country’s cultural and racial divisions for political gain.
The people asked not to be identified because the involvement of the veterans is intended as a surprise for viewers.
Pence will deliver the keynote address on the convention’s third night, a spotlight moment before a national television audience for a vice president believed to have White House ambitions of his own.
Trump and Pence have each denounced professional athletes -- mainly Black football players -- who kneel during the National Anthem to protest police brutality. Pence said he left an Indianapolis Colts game early in 2017 because some players kneeled during the anthem, and Trump has urged NFL owners to bench or fire players who protest, at one point referring to them as “son of a bitch.”
The NFL initially discouraged the protests, adopting a policy in 2018 that players who didn’t want to stand during the anthem should stay in the locker room. But like many corporations, the league has moved rapidly to embrace the Black Lives Matter movement since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued an apology in June “for not listening to NFL players earlier” and encouraged future peaceful protests.
