OPINION

NORTH Korea is threatening to start a nuclear war and his domestic agenda is falling apart, but apparently Donald Trump has nothing better to do than pick a fight with some NFL stars.

His call for players to be fired for kneeling in protest during the national anthem is, quite frankly, despicable. The right to make that kind of political statement without fear of punishment is supposed to be at the core of America’s national character. Once again, Trump is proving he thrives on corrupting that character.

But his attack on the protesting stars was not stupid. Trump set a trap, and the players fell right into it. Now the situation will only get uglier.

THE CONTEXT

This spat didn’t come out of nowhere — it has been brewing since last year, when Colin Kaepernick, then a player with the San Francisco 49ers, first refused to stand for the anthem. Kaepernick said he was protesting the “oppression” and mass incarceration of black Americans at the hands of police.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour,” he said.

He chose an extremely provocative form of protest. The flag and anthem are particularly powerful symbols in the United States, where patriotism is a permanent fixture of public life. At the time, many people suggested Kaepernick had hurt his own cause by immediately alienating part of the public.

Nevertheless, several other players were inspired by his example and started to kneel before every game.

The controversy gradually died down — until Trump reignited it over the weekend by taking aim at the protesting NFL stars at a political rally. He said NFL owners should sack anyone who knelt during the anthem.

“Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired. He’s fired!” Trump said, in typically presidential fashion.

The response was overwhelming. Just six players had refused to stand for the anthem during last week’s NFL games. Today, at least a hundred more joined them in a massive display of unity. And instead of punishing them, the team owners supported them.

“Our players are intelligent, thoughtful and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful,” said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has been a strong supporter of the president. Kraft added that he was “deeply disappointed” in Trump.

THE TRUMP TRAP

So Trump has failed, right? He said he wanted the protests to stop, and instead they have increased more than tenfold.

Wrong. This is exactly what the president wanted to happen. Far from hurting him politically, the players and their defenders in the media are adding to his support. That isn’t just, it isn’t right, but it is a fact.

Trump does this all the time — whether by design or just gut instinct — and his opponents always fall into the trap.

He picks an issue, identifies a popular position, then takes that position to its extreme.

For example, most people are against illegal immigration. Trump turned that into “we’re going to build a wall, and Mexico is going to pay for it”.

Everyone, including Trump’s own supporters, knows Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall. That was never the point. Here’s the real point: by taking an inflammatory position, Trump both signals to his fans that he is serious about the issue and infuriates his opponents, causing them to lash out, overreach and alienate the people they need to win over to beat him.

He is essentially the world’s most successful troll.

Trump’s fight with the NFL follows this formula perfectly. Polling shows 72 per cent of Americans do not support players protesting by kneeling during the anthem. They feel it is disrespectful and unpatriotic. Instinctively, they are on Trump’s side of the argument.

Now, if Trump had merely said he disagreed with the protests, not a whole lot would have happened. The debate would have faded into obscurity and ultimately been forgotten. But by calling for the players to be fired, by being as inflammatory as possible, he sparked an all-out culture war.

If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017

Courageous Patriots have fought and died for our great American Flag --- we MUST honor and respect it! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017

Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017

The NFL players could have responded in any number of ways — some of the teams’ statements were quite brilliant — but they are only human. And the most human, empathetic response available was to join their teammates in kneeling.

When that happened, you and I probably saw friends and colleagues showing their loyalty to each other. Many Americans, perhaps even a majority of them, saw something very different — disrespect and contempt for their flag.

Consider this reaction to Kaepernick’s original protest from the mother of a fallen American soldier. It’s old news now, but it has stuck with me for months.

“(My son) died protecting the ideals of the flag you (Kaepernick) refuse to respect. He died so that ungrateful, privileged, arrogant men like you can be just that — ungrateful, privileged and arrogant. Men and women willing to die to protect you because they believed in the ideals this country was founded on. Men and women of all races and religions,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“Ask them, sir, about pride in the American flag. Ask them how their heart feels when they hear the national anthem being sung.

“Shame on you. Shame on you for your disrespect towards those who are true examples of honesty, integrity, pride and leadership. Shame on you for disrespecting my son and his life. His sacrifice.”

Every player in the NFL could kneel for the rest of their careers and they would never convince that mother to have sympathy for their cause. Sadly, there are millions more like her.

I’m not blaming the players here. Kaepernick was willing to risk his reputation to defend his beliefs, and that is admirable. In a perfect world, everyone would look past the protests themselves and consider the message behind them.

But in the real world, Kaepernick and the other players who snub the anthem are only provoking hostility from the people they need to win over.

The real villain, and the real winner, is Trump. Millions of people voted for him last year not because they liked the guy, but because they hated him less than the alternative. The endless cycle of resentment helps him; it feeds his support.

Trump’s critics cannot stop his deplorable behaviour, but they can and must stop falling into the same obvious trap.