Virginia Senatorial candidate Corey Stewart wants to strip the National Football League of its lucrative anti-trust exemption over its response to players taking a knee during the National Anthem.

Mr. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, plans to formally make the demand at a press conference Wednesday outside the NFL Players Association in Washington D.C.

Granted by Congress, the limited anti-trust exemption gives the NFL broad power to negotiate massive television deals as a single entity on behalf of all the teams.

Mr. Stewart is hoping to unseat Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in the midterm elections, but first must wrap up the GOP nomination.

Mr. Stewart also blasted out a fundraising email Tuesday calling on supporters to boycott the NFL, saying the league “is enabling the divisive, anti-American temper tantrums thrown by grown men who get paid to play a childhood game.”

“When these players take a knee during the National Anthem, they aren’t just disrespecting a flag or a song, they’re disrespecting every American patriot – and every American who has worn the uniform and died to keep us free,” he said.

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