Last weekend, there was controversy surrounding the NFL thanks to President Donald Trump making comments that owners of teams should fire any player that kneels during the national anthem. Many NFL owners came out and knelt with players and the entire situation has divided NFL fans across the nation.
Interestingly, former WWE superstar Sean “X-Pac” Waltman had former cruiserweight star Austin Aries on The Tomorrow Show ( via Wrestling Inc ) and the two talked about the peaceful protests, why you would never see it in the WWE, and what Aries thought of the entire Donald Trump-NFL controversy.
Austin Aries Talks Donald Trump’s Comments
Austin Aries said that he was very disappointed by the words that Donald Trump used when talking about the NFL and its players. Trump used insulting terms to describe the NFL players who knelt during the national anthem, and also demanded that NFL teams fire players who peacefully protest during the national anthem.
According to Aries, President Trump needs to be more “self-aware” when talking about certain individuals. Aries pointed out that Trump attacked the NFL and NBA, the latter of which involved Trump canceling the White House invitation for the Golden State Warriors because Stephen Curry wasn’t sure he wanted to attend.
Aries said that the two leagues are predominantly black and that Donald Trump was basically telling owners to “get your slaves back in place and you tell them when they stand and when they kneel and if they don’t, you fire them.” Aries said that Trump feels that NFL teams should make money off the players and do what they say
Will The WWE Ever Protest?
The chance of the WWE ever protesting is slim. The fact of the matter is that Vince McMahon is a close friend of President Donald Trump and Linda McMahon holds a position under Trump’s administration. The WWE power couple donated millions to the Trump campaign and have defended him every step of the way.
Sean Waltman pointed out that WWE superstars remain in the locker room when the national anthem is played at WWE events, so there is no controversy whether they are standing or not.
Austin Aries then added that there are 32 NFL teams that will sign a player that another team “fires,” adding that Colin Kaepernick is the only real exception right now. In the WWE, there are not as many options for wrestlers. However, Aries said that it would be nice to see a stand of unity for WWE superstars.
Austin Aries also said that President Donald Trump was misguided by his statements on players exercising their rights to kneel during the national anthem. Aries said that he has met plenty of military personnel who believe that they have fought for our freedom to do these sort of silent protests.
“When I went over there and visit these soldiers you realize a lot of them don’t agree with why they’re over there doing this, they don’t agree with the reasoning, but they’re doing their job so we all have the right to have these choices.”
Austin Aries then humorously pointed out that no one is talking about NASCAR. Then Aries pointed out that there is only one full-time minority driver in NASCAR, so that is not a target of men like President Trump.
[Featured Image by Kris Connor/Getty Images]