Rev. Al Sharpton is blasting the president for his “fake conducting” moment as the national anthem played during the Super Bowl Sunday.
At his Super Bowl watch party, President Donald Trump was seen pretending to conduct as “The Star Spangled Banner” played. The video was taken by an attendee, who is a real estate agent for a Russian-American firm, The Miami Herald reports.
As First Lady Melania Trump stood still with her hand over her heart, Trump at one point waved his hands in the air during the national anthem.
See the video below:
https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1224437545301241858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1224437545301241858&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-called-out-for-video-showing-him-joking-around-pretending-to-conduct-the-band-during-national-anthem%2F
However, the move by the president sparked outrage, including from Sharpton, who blasted Trump as he said the president was “mocking” the anthem.
During MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday, host Sharpton suggested Trump should be put into a room and taught “what we teach our three-year-old children.”
“Because if my three-year-old child or four-year-old child or five-year-old child had acted the way the president of the United States did during the national anthem at the Super Bowl, mocking it, ridiculing it, like fake conducting, thinking that was a time to point fingers at people,” Sharpton said.
MSNBC co-host Mika Brzezinski mentioned Trump’s past criticism of former San Fransisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem. Sharpton stated, “Kaepernick did not mock the national anthem, this was a mockery.”
“This is acting like [the anthem] was composed for me, and I think it was unpatriotic for the president of the United States to act like this was some composition that he could exploit rather than the national anthem,” Sharpton said. “And for him to criticize Kaepernick and to do that shows the ultimate hypocrisy.”
The president has previously been vocal on his distaste for National Football League (NFL) players kneeling during the anthem, including on Kaepernick’s past kneeling in protest of police brutality and racial inequality.
Trump’s pretending to conduct during the Super Bowl national anthem has drawn critics calling him out for “not standing proudly.”