Christian megachurch pastor: NFL protesters should ‘thank God they don’t get shot in the head’

Megachurch pastor and member of President Trump’s evangelical advisory council Robert Jeffress appeared on Fox News this Monday to give his thoughts on the protest movement sweeping through professional sports teams.

Jeffress, who leads the First Baptist Church in Dallas, told Fox & Friends that the players “taking a knee” on their respective fields are “absolutely wrong.”

“These players ought to be thanking God that they live in a country where they’re not only free to earn millions of dollars every year, but they’re also free from the worry of being shot in the head for taking a knee like they would be if they were in North Korea,” Jeffress said.

Jeffress seemed to argue that players should celebrate the fact that they enjoy free speech rights by remaining quiet.

“I think tens of millions of Americans agree with President Trump when he says they ought to be called out for this,” Jeffress said. “I know this president. President Trump is not a racist. For President Trump this is not about race. It’s about respect of country.”

The Huffington Post reached out to Jeffress and asked him to clarify his comments, to which he replied, “I stand by my comments as taken within their full context.”

It is an absolute fact that in many countries of the world professional athletes would be imprisoned ― or worse ― for publicly opposing their nation’s anthem or disrespecting their national leaders. If any member of the press doubts this fact, then I would encourage them to take a trip to North Korea themselves, publicly shame Kim Jong Un and then see what happens. All of us should thank God every day that we live in a country where we do not have to fear government persecution for expressing our beliefs.

Featured image via YouTube

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.