As has become typical of the FS1 analyst, Jason Whitlock has a more cynical take the wave of National Anthem protests that headlined Week 3 of the NFL season than his peers and competitors in sports commentary do. Whereas many have expressed being moved by the unified response to President Trump's call for protesters to be fired, the Speak For Yourself host went the route of downplaying the league-wide demonstrations as an overreaction to what he gauges was Trump simply being Trump.
"I got to be honest, I didn't like the response. I think that President Trump has demonstrated over the last decade he is a troll, and he will troll anybody. He's gone after John McCain. He's gone after President Obama. He's gone after Hillary Clinton, Mika Brzezinski, Megyn Kelly, Arianna Huffington. He has said some of the cruelest stuff about other public figures of any person I know. He is 1000% on brand, hasn't surprised anybody," Whitlock said, before noting that Trump's brand is representative of a certain expression of patriotism, and quickly objecting to the notion that the remarks which ignited the protests were in any way racist.
"I thought the response was over the top. We've been trolled, and everybody took the bait," Whitlock then said, as co-hosts Colin Cowherd, Tony Gonzalez and Eric Davis waited to offer their own impressions. "And now, something that allegedly, months ago or a year ago, was allegedly about police brutality, and then turned into a conversation about disrespecting the flag and Colin Kaepernick's career, is now a big conversation about Donald Trump," he said.
