Davis Love III says ‘President Trump is right’ about national anthem protests

A two-time U.S. Ryder Cup captain and the assistant captain at this week's Presidents Cup voices support for Donald Trump’s comments about athletes who protest during the national anthem.

U.S. Presidents Cup skipper Davis Love III has come out in favor of President Donald Trump’s contentious comments regarding NFL athletes who kneel or sit during the national anthem.

“I think President Trump is right," Love said on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Tuesday ahead of this week’s Prez Cup being played at Liberty National Golf Course. "There is a time for protest, and it probably isn't during the national anthem."

It's a topic the sport, and much of the media that covers it, would probably rather avoid but with a USA team event coming just days after Trump's comments, the questions were going to be asked. Love jumped headfirst into the topic on Golf Channel.

"I think you'll see in golf that there's a little bit more restraint," Love said. "We adhere to our rulebook and to our core values and to our traditions, and I think that's why our sport is so successful. There's a time for us to protest, and it really isn't during the national anthem. We ought to take a break during the prayer or during the national anthem to thank our country, to thank our forefathers who went before us. And then we can protest with our votes, with our letters to our congressmen or however we want.”

So far, Love is one of just a few professional golfers, along with Peter Malnati and Paul Goydos, to opine about the action that unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick began last year to raise awareness about the unequal treatment that people of color receive in this country and that Trump sneered at with his divisive comments and tweets over the weekend. With the issue front and center in the sports world, we are likely to hear from more players as they arrive at the podium for their pre-tourney interviews in the media center at the venue that sits across the Hudson River from the Statue of Liberty.

On Tuesday morning, Presidents Cup captain Steve Stricker made it clear that none of the 12 USA team members would be protesting during the national anthem this week. Stricker said his team will stand with their hands over their hearts during the anthem.

Love’s remarks, in which he backed the bombastic POTUS, who called players taking a knee “sons of bitches” and demanded that owners fire the protesters, were in direct contrast to those of Malnati and Goydos.

Malnati, a one-time PGA Tour winner, in a Twitter post, called Trump’s words “not unifying … divisive. Just like our ‘leader.’”

Two-time tour winner Goydos, meanwhile, told Golf.com that Trump’s actions were “beneath the office of the presidency.”