On his radio show Wednesday, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh leveled some surprisingly tough criticism of President Donald Trump over his latest attempts to pressure NFL owners Commissioner Roger Goodell into forcing players to stand for the national anthem. “I am very uncomfortable with the president of the United States being able to dictate the behavior and power of anybody,” Limbaugh told his listeners. In response to Trump’s “continually tweeting” on the issue, the host added, “I know what he’s doing, and I understand why he’s doing it, and his motives are pure; don’t misunderstand. But I don’t think that it is useful or helpful for any employee anywhere to be forced to do something because the government says they must. We don’t want the president being able to demand anybody that he’s unhappy with behave in a way he requires.” After Trump tweeted that Goodell is “finally demanding that all players STAND for our great National Anthem,” the league had to issue a statement clarifying that this was not the case.
