INDIANAPOLIS -- Vice President Mike Pence took to social media to celebrate the NFL's new policy that requires players to stand during the national anthem during games.
The new policy, announced Wednesday, comes after months of controversy that started with silent protests by then-San-Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who said he was kneeling during the anthem to draw attention to injustice.
After Kaepernick's protest, NFL players across the nation began to follow suit which later drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who in 2017 said players' kneeling showed "total disrespect for our great country."
Pence expressed his feelings about the decision on Twitter with the hashtag #Winning along with a CNN story calling the new policy a "Victory for President Trump".
#Winning 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aEJOCmB5lW
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 23, 2018
Pence has supported President Trump's stance on NFL players kneeling and even left a Colts game back in October 2017 after several 49ers players knelt during the National Anthem.
"I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem," Pence tweeted after he left.
I stand with @POTUS Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem. pic.twitter.com/B0zP5M41MQ
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
Under the new policy, teams whose players do not stand "and show respect for the flag and the anthem" will be fined by the league.
Each team will be allowed to create their own rules on how they will punish players, which could also include fines, but the policy does give players the option to stay in the locker room while the anthem is being played if they do not wish to stand.
The decision comes as two free-agent players, Kaepernick and Eric Reid, have filed separate grievances against the league claiming collusion because they have been denied jobs. Both players kneeled during the National Anthem while they were teammates on the 49ers.
