US President Donald Trump denied on Monday that he was stoking racial tension, insisting his charged comments that prompted a wave of symbolic protests by NFL players were about patriotism. After his verbal attacks on black athletes led players across the country to kneel in solidarity during the US national anthem at games over the weekend, the besieged US president played defence on Twitter. Trump had sparked the furore by describing NFL players who chose to kneel through renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as "sons of bitches" who should be fired. Players throughout America’s most popular sport took a defiant stance, kneeling, linking arms or raising clenched fists during the anthem. The US leader doubled down on those remarks by urging fans to boycott the NFL as long as the protests continued. Keeping the issue alive for a fourth day, Trump on Monday insisted: "The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our country, flag and national anthem. ...
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