In a video which has gone viral, the president is seen pretending to be a conductor when 'The Star-Spangled Banner' plays while other partygoers are standing at attention.
- February 5, 2020
AceShowbiz - Looks like Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z are not the only ones to get criticized for not behaving properly when the national anthem played at Super Bowl LIV. On Sunday, February 2, Donald Trump and his wife Melania hosted a private Super Bowl watch party at the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida, during which he was caught on camera mocking "The Star-Spangled Banner".
In a video shared by one partygoer, the president, borrowing from his own words, was seen not "standing proudly" during the anthem performance by Demi Lovato. While others, including his wife Melania and son Barron, were standing at attention with their hands over their hearts, Trump wasn't doing the same thing.
Instead, he was seen in the 25-second clip adjusting his jacket, pointing his finger at an unseen person and fidgeting. As the song reached its crescendo, he waved his fingers as if conducting an orchestra.
Reposting the video, a Twitter user wrote, "Donald Trump, who cares deeply about the national anthem, is caught goofing off in a video by a 'real estate agent for a Russian-American firm who frequents Mar-a-Lago,' where Trump was watching the Super Bowl with paying customers."
Another noted that Trump probably sat down before the anthem was over. "It's interesting that it cuts off right before he's clearly about to sit down...several bars before the song is over. I bet he sat down," the said person pointed out.
Someone else slammed the president, "I guess he needs to learn to put his hand over his heart during the national anthem like his wife is doing. He's disrespecting the flag even worse than people kneeling."
Several others, meanwhile, claimed that Trump did it to get attention. "If Trump is not the center of attention, he makes sure to become it," one person mocked him. Another added, "He can't not be the center of attention for even minutes."
This is particularly interesting because Trump previously spoke against kneeling during the national anthem, which was started by Colin Kaepernick as a protest against police brutality in 2016. "You have to stand, proudly, for the national anthem or you shouldn't be playing," the 73-year-old said in a 2018 interview with "Fox and Friends". "You shouldn't be there. Maybe you shouldn't be in the country."
