Trump’s Attacks On NFL Protesters ‘Pile Of Bull-Dinky,’ Panthers Owner Says

While many NFL owners have tiptoed around the issue of players taking a knee during the national anthem, new Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper just stepped right in.

During an interview with CNBC at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Tepper blasted President Donald Trump and other critics on Thursday for vilifying players who are kneeling to protest racial injustice.

“It’s the biggest pile of bull-dinky ever,” Tepper said. “These are some of the most patriotic people and best people. These are great young men. So to say that ... It just makes me so aggravated and angry. .. It’s just dead wrong.”

Tepper cited the players’ off-the-field community work as an example of their patriotism and said the NFL could better promote their pay-it-forward acts.

“You’ve got a lot of people that do a lot of good things,” he said. “So I think maybe the league could do more, maybe they can, maybe they can’t, saying how much good the players do. ... Get that message out more.”

Trump has consistently cast demonstrating players as unpatriotic and has even called for them to be fired. “If the players stood proudly for our Flag and Anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings could come back? Otherwise worse!” he tweeted Sunday.

Although Tepper didn’t call out the president by name, he referred to the “red-headed guy in D.C. that likes to talk about it.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.