Donald Trump has faced a barrage of mockery (and criticism) over his conduct at a Super Bowl party at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, when he was caught on camera fidgeting and energetically gesturing while the national anthem was being played.
According to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), POTUS demonstrated disrespect for the US military, as he, unlike the others, including FLOTUS Melania, didn’t hold his hand over his heart.
“Our troops are worthy of a commander-in-chief who respects them. Instead, they’re being led by a self-centered man-child,” tweeted Swalwell, a former presidential candidate, also posting a link to the article with the video, which shows Trump at some point making believe he was conducting a band, or a choir.
Separately, many recalled how Trump “savaged” NFL players for kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police shootings of black Americans, including former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“Donald Trump’s disrespect for the flag would be shocking behaviour for any other public figure,” another tweets, with many more echoing the same sentiment. Many pointed to the fact that POTUS behaved in an utterly childish way, alleging he was struggling for attention like “a 3-year-old.”
Donald Trump often called out football star Colin Kaepernick for his socially loaded practice of “taking the knee" during the performance of the US national anthem at the start of football games.
The gesture raised Kaepernick's profile, with the movement he started resulting in more focus on the issue of racism in US society, however Kaepernick himself remains an NFL outcast.