And he separately lashed out about a blossoming discussion about renaming military bases named after Confederate leaders.
The changing tenor from the two leagues could be pivotal for Trump, though.
At rallies, he has praised racing fans for standing during the national anthem, and cursed at NFL players taking a knee.
Trump fanned the flames of the issue, at one point calling for NFL owners to fire players for taking a knee.
“So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans,” Trump wrote in a tweet in September 2017.
And the leagues’ refusal to allow overt kneeling gave Trump two allies as he fanned the culture war flames over the issue.
Trump once tried to purchase an NFL team and counts some NFL owners, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, among his supporters and donors. »