The party line — expressed by a number of conservatives on Twitter on Monday following President Donald Trump‘s disinviting the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles to the White House, citing the team’s disagreement that they must stand during the National Anthem — went something like this…

If you refuse to stand for the national anthem you have no business being honored at the White House or by our President — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 4, 2018

Can’t wait for #Eagles players to use this as an opportunity to virtue signal. You don’t want real equality, otherwise you would show up and express your differences. You want attention. Stand for the anthem @realDonaldTrump — Britt McHenry (@BrittMcHenry) June 5, 2018

.@realDonaldTrump is choosing to stand up for our country and its anthem by canceling tomorrow’s event with the Eagles who chose to play political games instead of showing respect for the White House and the USA. — Boris Epshteyn (@BorisEP) June 4, 2018

The problem with that line of thinking, as promptly pointed out by scores of prominent Tweeters on the other side of the aisle (including former Eagles wideout Torrey Smith), was this…

If you are going to tweet…tweet facts…no one on the Eagles took a knee last season………. https://t.co/7aiTuvVKe8 — Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) June 5, 2018

Not one single @Eagles player knelt during the National Anthem in the 2017 regular season and playoffs. Not one Eagles player chose to stay inside the locker room. This has been a team that has been united while respectfully having different opinions. — Kevin Negandhi (@KNegandhiESPN) June 5, 2018

Precisely *zero* Eagles kneeled during the anthem last year. One player did donate his entire salary to charity, though. — nick wright (@getnickwright) June 5, 2018

Yes, every single Philadelphia Eagles player stood for the National Anthem prior to each regular season and postseason contest during the 2017-2018 NFL season. One player, Ron Brooks, did take a knee before a game during the preseason — but he did not make the Eagles’ 53-man roster for the start of the regular season.

The Eagles do have several prominent supporters of social justice reform on their squad. Defensive back Malcolm Jenkins visited Capitol Hill last year to meet with lawmakers on issues of race and police brutality. Defensive lineman Chris Long has been an outspoken supporter of social justice causes on Twitter. But like the rest of their teammates, Jenkins and Long stood for the Anthem prior to each of the club’s contests this past season.

The more likely reason for the president’s disinvite of the champs? Crowd size. According to Philly.com, fewer than 10 Eagles players — less than 20 percent of the team’s roster — planned to attend the White House ceremony. A few absences are common, but more than 40 would’ve been staggering. And so, in all probability, it was this — and not the team’s stance over the NFL protests during the National Anthem — which caused the president to yank the team’s invite.

[images via Getty]

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Follow Joe DePaolo (@joe_depaolo) on Twitter

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