President Donald Trump sounded very satisfied with his recent remarks on patriotism and the NFL in a dinner with conservative group leaders at the White House Monday night, according to a person who attended the event.
“It’s really caught on. It’s really caught on,” Trump said of his NFL comments to attendees at the dinner, according to someone who attended. “I said what millions of Americans were thinking.”
“You could really tell he was satisfied,” this person in the room said about the President’s comments.
Trump was referencing his crusade over the weekend in which he harshly criticized players who kneel during the national anthem. Many players who have done so have said they are protesting police brutality.
Two distinct issues are driving the national debate: Believing players should stand during National Anthem and the question of whether it’s appropriate for a president to make an issue of it.
At the dinner, Trump also lashed at at GOP Sen. John McCain and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to the source.
Trump described McCain, who said he won’t support the latest GOP effort on health care, as a “disgrace” on the issue, the attendee said.
As for Sessions, Trump again said the attorney general should not have recused himself in the Russia investigation.
“You can tell he still has disdain for this guy,” the attendee told CNN about Sessions. “The room was a little uncomfortable. He really pounded him.”
On tax reform, Trump offered some marketing advice for the attendees at the dinner.
“Just call it tax cuts,” Trump said, arguing that’s how to explain the issue to everyday Americans.
“It sounds convoluted” when you call it tax reform, the person at the dinner quoted Trump as saying.
