CNN host Jake Tapper issued a strong defense of the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday and said President Donald Trump had lied and made false suggestions about the Super Bowl champions.
Tapper, a huge Eagles fan and was in the stands for the team’s Super Bowl win, discussed Trump disinviting the team to the White House and canceling the celebration meant to honor the players on Monday, the day before the event.
Most of the Eagles players had already said they would not visit the White House, with several citing their view that Trump seeks to divide the country as the reason.
In canceling the gathering, the president said in a Twitter post the White House would no longer honor the team since Eagles players kneeling during the National Anthem was disrespectful to the country.
“In point of fact, not once during the regular or post-season did any members of the Philadelphia Eagles kneel during the National Anthem,” Tapper said. “Not once!”
Trump also tweeted that “Staying in the Locker Room for the playing of our National Anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeling. Sorry!” Again, Tapper set him straight.
“Yeah, that was the Pittsburgh Steelers who stayed in the locker room during the anthem, Mr. President. Not the Philadelphia Eagles,” Tapper said, referring to one of the early games in the 2017 season.
“Again, the suggestion that it was the Eagles that did that ― false, deceptive, a lie,” he said.
After the CNN host acknowledged his devotion to the team, he added that “far more... I’m a huge fan of the truth.”
“When you look at this controversy, when you look at the president lying about the Eagles taking a knee during the anthem, when you look at falsely suggesting the Eagles stayed in the locker room; when you look at the White House press secretary paid with your tax dollars attacking the team over and over, ask yourself, when members of the Philadelphia Eagles say the president seeks to divide us, are they wrong?” he asked.
Trump said Tuesday’s event would instead be a “celebration of America.” During the event, which the White House claimed Eagles fans still attended, an unidentified man took a knee while the National Anthem played.
Take a look at the full segment in the video above.
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