Donald Trump only exacerbates the issue with his NFL tweets

In response to Victor Joecks’ Wednesday column, “Behold peril of public dole for stadium”:

I don’t know where Mr. Joecks came up with the figure of “200 players” who demonstrated in the Sept. 24 NFL games. But even if it was only 200 players — it was more — it means that thanks to Donald Trump’s stupid meddling in the NFL, the number of players protesting went from 13 to 200. It proves that Mr. Trump made things worse for the players, coaches and, I might add, the team owners and the NFL executives.

I guess I question most why it is the leader of the most powerful country in the world needs to grovel in the dirt and use foul language to describe players who demonstrate. Is this what you call making America great again? Polling suggests there is a strong majority belief that Donald Trump should be focused on other issues. A recent survey found that 35.9 percent of respondents believe it is important for him to highlight this issue, while 64.1 percent say he should have his focus elsewhere.

The demonstrations started by Colin Kaepernick had nothing to do with disrespecting the flag or our country. Instead, they focused on what he believed, rightly or wrongly, about issues relating to police violence against African Americans. Would I have chosen that route to demonstrate? I think not. But what I also think is that, left to its own devices, those very few demonstrations (about 13 players) would have eventually melted away.

Contrast this with Mr. Trump, who by his intemperate remarks turned this demonstration into a national exhibition that in fact does not unite Americans, nor does it make America great. Rather, Mr. Trump’s modus operandi is to use dog whistles and otherwise divisive strategies to sow chaos. At the end of the day, if this guy makes you proud … well, I don’t know what to tell you.