President Donald Trump held a "Celebration of America" on Tuesday after abruptly canceling the Philadelphia Eagles' visit to the White House amid disagreements over the ongoing NFL/national anthem drama.
The team was expected to visit the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl victory, but fewer than 10 players had planned to attend in a dispute over national anthem protests. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed the Eagles for what she said was "a political stunt."
So instead, Trump decided to celebrate America.
Just look at all those big flags. I count at least 20.
The celebration, which lasted less than 10 minutes, began with the singing of the national anthem. Trump sang along with the US Army Chorus, and he sang almost every word.
I also counted at least 2 points during the anthem when the president briefly stopped singing the words. ("at the twilight's" and "were so gallantly streaming") https://t.co/1mkRM1R04c
And almost everyone stood for the whole thing.
A man takes a knee during Trump’s celebration.
Yep. Someone kneeled.
At The White House. One guy in the audience took a knee during the national anthem at President Trumps celebration of America no Eagles event. Left right after - didn’t wanna talk https://t.co/NLRGp26gln
Trump then explained "why young Americans stand for our national anthem."
"We stand to honor our military and to honor our country and to remember the fallen heroes that never made it back home," Trump said. "We stand to pay tribute to the incredible Americans that came before us and the heroic sacrifices that they made."
He went on to talk about how great America is doing, citing record-low unemployment figures, before going back to the issue of standing during the anthem.
"So we stand together for freedom, we stand together for patriotism, and we proudly stand for our glorious nation under God," Trump said.
He also said people stand for the anthem to show love for "our magnificent Constitution" (the First Amendment of which, of course, allows NFL players not to stand).
The quick event concluded with the singing of "God Bless America" and, well, Trump didn't sing all the words. There were several points where he just nodded along.
*When in doubt, just nod your head and smile.*
Here's where things get weirder. The White House had said the replacement event was, in part, held for the 1,000 Eagles fans who were planning to attend.
But several reporters said they couldn't find any actual fans in the crowd who showed up.
As reporters shouted into the assembled crowd to ask who had traveled from Philadelphia there were... a lot of blank stares https://t.co/y0bTDiojQl
One reporter said they didn't see a single Eagles jersey. She did, however, see "one woman in a green dress." (The team colors are green and silver.)
I've asked the White House who the fans were. The overwhelming majority of men donned suits and the women wore summer work dresses. I didn't see one Eagles jersey . (although i did see one woman in a green dress) https://t.co/CW64dUNT5F
I mean, how could you not know the name of your team's quarterback?
I’ve asked 6 of the “fans” at the White House who was the @Eagles quarterback during the super bowl. Not ONE person knew. @NBCPhiladelphia
BTW, Nick Foles was the Eagles quarterback during the Super Bowl. The team's starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, was injured and didn't play.
One reporter did manage to find some prep school "kids" from a Philadelphia suburb who did an Eagles chant.
Some Malvern Prep kids are here and did an Eagles chant.
But an ABC reporter also spotted many in the crowd wearing White House badges, suggesting they were staffers.
The next chapter in the WH v Eagles drama...who were those people on the South Lawn for the "Celebration of America" event? Were they Eagles fans? From Philly? @alex_mallin reports many had WH badges tucked into jackets & shirts
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
