U.S. Olympian Gwen Berry felt that the playing of the National Anthem at the Olympic track and field trials on Saturday was \u201cdisrespectful\u201d to \u2026<\/b>
\nU.S. Olympian Gwen Berry felt that the playing of the National Anthem at the Olympic track and field trials on Saturday was \u201cdisrespectful\u201d to her. Multiple GOP lawmakers and military veterans have since called for her to be removed from the Olympic team, citing that the sole purpose of an Olympic athlete is to represent their country under the flag. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s too much, when athletes are competing to wear the Stars and Stripes \u2014 to compete under the Stars and Stripes in the Olympics \u2014 for them to simply honor that flag and our anthem on the medal stand,\u201d Sen. Tom Cotton said on Fox News on Monday. \u201cIf Ms. Berry is so embarrassed by America, then there\u2019s no reason she needs to compete for our country. She should be removed from the Olympic team.\u201d Former NFL player Jack Brewer has been an outspoken critic of players protesting the anthem, and made his opinion clear in a conversation with The Daily Wire. \u201cI just think about growing up as a kid and literally just in school, when you hear the National Anthem, the feeling that it gives you and the respect that you have,\u201d Brewer said when asked about Berry\u2019s move to turn her back to the flag. \u201cThe flag is not supposed to represent perfection, but the flag is the family \u2014 the American family \u2014 the country that we share. Everyone is trying to work for the same goal. That\u2019s what your country represents. That\u2019s like walking into your house and slapping your mom. It makes no sense. I don\u2019t understand it.\u201d \u201cAnd now, we have a culture that is literally professing to these kids and teaching these kids that their country is inherently bad\u2026 not to respect the national Anthem and the flag. That\u2019s supposed to be the one thing that brings us together. It\u2019s heartbreaking.\u201d Athletes have been protesting the anthem since NFL player Colin Kaepernick first began kneeling in 2016, but Berry\u2019s position is different. The sole purpose of an Olympic athlete is to represent his or her country, it\u2019s not for fame or fortune as it is for professional athletes. It\u2019s what makes Berry\u2019s move so offensive to so many. \u201cIf I was a coach or if I was a part of the U.S. Olympic committee, the first criteria that you should have for anybody that wants to go compete for the country is that you embrace and love your country. How do you have someone compete at the highest level and how do you have them give everything that they have in their heart \u2026 and trust that they\u2019re going to go there with the best intention, if the very country that they\u2019re going to represent \u2026 they turn their back on. That should be the number one criteria before anyone gets or makes this Olympic team.\u201d \u201cOur freedom is not free. The American people deserve to be represented by people who love them and people who stand for unity and all the good things that this country is about.\u201d Berry\u2019s move to protest the flag and anthem may be just the beginning of Olympic athletes protesting the flag on the international stage. Brewer believes it will continue, but only if we allow it. \u201cI think we will continue to see it if they appease it and allow it. You\u2019ve got to stop it at its root. There\u2019s no time to have this lukewarm perspective when it comes to these things. It\u2019s time to take a hard stand in this nation, to hold people accountable. You don\u2019t want to be here, you don\u2019t want to represent America, that\u2019s your choice. We have choice and free will in America.\u201d \u201cSo, anybody that wants to represent our Olympic team should not be allowed to wear that red, white, and blue if they don\u2019t love this nation. You can stop it by actually holding people accountable and not allowing you to take hostage of our American dream on the international scale, by giving someone the ability to hijack that moment for whatever their political belief is.\u201d Berry has indicated that she will not back down when she gets to Tokyo, saying she\u2019ll \u201cfigure out something to do\u201d when she gets there. It\u2019s a statement that perplexes Brewer. \u201cIf you just listen to the reasoning behind what they claim to be fighting for\u2026 You claim to be fighting against racism, but you\u2019re literally standing against the one nation that has allowed more people to have equality and opportunity than in any place in the world! People are trying to leave by the millions to get to America. People that are really facing serious oppression and racism and all those other things.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re coming here, yet we have athletes that don\u2019t appreciate the very freedoms in which we have. It\u2019s embarrassing.\u201d Lost in the backlash was the selfishness of the act, taking attention away from the two other Olympic hammer throwers who made the team. DeAnna Price earned gold in the event, setting an American record with a throw of 263 feet,6 inches (80.31 meters). \u201cYou took all of the focus off of the record holder. You took her moment,\u201d Brewer said. \u201cHow dare you?\u201d Joe Morgan is the sports reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com. The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.<\/p>\n