Mary Katherine Ham: ‘Goodell vs. Trump Is the Iran/Iraq War of Sports Conflicts’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

HAM: "First of all, Roger Goodell versus trump is the Iran/iraq war of sports conflicts. Can they both lose? Second of all, if they had let him buy the Bills, we wouldn't be talking about this. That's partly why he's mad. As usual, Trump is crass in his language, and he's wrong about whether the president should be suggesting whether people get fired over expressing this. That's a private company that can make that decision. It's not exactly a First Amendment issue, but when the president gets involved, that can chill free speech and that's bad.

"I'm somebody who actually agrees with Colin Kaepernick's about some of these issues, but this particular protest is a divisive, controversial type of protest. And people get their backs up rightfully about the flag and about the anthem. During the year-long news cycle we have had about this, polling on black lives matter, which is the cause he's backing, has gone from 20% disapprove to 57% disapprove. And NFL attendance has gone down.

"So what Trump is doing here, and he does want more of it, he is putting the entire left of this country and people who are against him or who criticize his policies on the wrong side of the flag and the they'll. And they're going to do it loudly and obviously. And even though some of those issues are real, politically speaking, his instinct is correct here. I don't think it's a good move for the country, but the instinct is correct that those people will look bad."