https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0RN460CIn4
Just when you think you’ve seen it all on Fox News, host Shepard Smith is here to surprise you. NFL protests are taking over the football conversation this season and the long-time journalist told the truth about where the demonstration stems from. And newsflash to those on the far right, it’s not an assault on the flag and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“It’s very clear that for his base, this is the red meat of all red meat because they’re able to reframe this,” Smith says on the Monday, Sept. 25 airing of “Shepard Smith Reporting.” “They’re able to say, ‘Oh, They’re attacking the national anthem, they’re attacking the troops, they’re attacking the flag,’ none of which they’re doing. [Atheltes are] not doing any of that. They’re upset about racial injustice in the country and they’re upset about the things that [Donald Trump] has said — and yet he’s able to turn it around for his base. Isn’t this all a play to his base?”
Politico reporter Rachel Bade agreed that Trump’s rhetoric, like when he called for protesting pros to be fired or suspended, plays up to a fraction of his base.
“People, in general, don’t like it when folks protest the national anthem…” she says.
More on the NFL’s National Anthem Protest
Trump Begins the Morning by Slamming the NFL
NFL Protests: More Than 200 Players Choose to Not Stand for National Anthem (Photos)
J. Cole to NFL Players: Much Respect, But More Than Kneeling Needs to be Done
“Of course, they’re not protesting the national anthem,” Smith says. “That’s not what they’re doing. And we’re complicit!”
Some reacted with surprise at Smith’s statements.
https://twitter.com/SHOWTIMEnjb/status/912465866385707009
https://twitter.com/shutupCole/status/912466690587414529
Meanwhile, right-wingers were fired up over his remarks.
Shepard Smith of Fox News should work for CNN.His reporting is always biased,
negative and unfair towards the Trump Administration.— Luciano Capicchioni (@Lucky_L7) September 25, 2017
@FoxNews I WILL CONTINUE TO TURN OFF FOX ANYTIME I SEE THE LIBERAL SHEPARD SMITH. ALL HE DOES IS WHINE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT TRUMP.
— Phx Ken (@PhxKen) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/andyoaklee/status/912633139440308226
However, this isn’t the first time Smith has ruffled Fox viewers’ feathers. In July, he took aim at the Trump administration for “constant flip-flopping between narratives” regarding Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer last year. Even his friend and fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity expressed irritation with it.
“Shep is a friend, I like him, but he’s so anti-Trump,” Hannity said on his radio show this summer. “He went off on a rant last week. That’s fine, but [the opinion is] different. “Shep Smith disagrees with me, and he does so vehemently. Fine, I have no problem with it.”
