The NFL and social media unload on Trump after controversial national anthem protest comments

Social media erupted on Friday after President Donald Trump decried NFL players who protest the national anthem, such as quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

What did he say?

"Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a b**ch off the field right now?" Trump said at a rally for Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) Friday evening.

"He’s fired. He’s fired!" Trump continued. "You know, some owner’s gonna do that. He’s gonna say that guy that disrespects our flag, he’s fired. And that owner, they don’t know it, they don’t know it, they’re friends of mine, many of them. They don’t know – they’ll be the most popular person for a week. They’ll be the most popular person in this country.”

“Cuz that’s a total disrespect of our heritage, OK,” he concluded. “That’s a total disrespect of everything that we stand for, OK? Everything that we stand for."

How did the NFL respond?

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement:

How did everyone else respond?

Most of the reaction was squarely against Trump:

Many players sounded off:

Not many voiced their support on Twitter, outside of hardline supporters like his son and commentator Bill Mitchell.