Hillary Clinton has a surprising message for Democrats on national anthem protests

Hillary Clinton weighed in on the controversy surrounding protests in the NFL during the national anthem, saying that Democrats should the issue to win against President Trump.

What did Hillary say?

Clinton was on her way to the next stop in her book tour when she answered questions about defeating “what are very clear dog-whistles” from the president and used the NFL as an example.

“That's what black athletes kneeling was all about,” she said. "That's not against our anthem or our flag.”

“Actually, kneeling is a reverent position,” she added. “It was to demonstrate in a peaceful way against racism and injustice in our criminal system.”

She encouraged Democrats to press against Trump by using issues like the NFL protests.

“I think it would be a grave error for Democrats to recede from those fights," she concluded, "so therefore we have to stand up, fight back, resist.”

Can Democrats use the NFL protests to win against Trump?

It's very unlikely. Polls show that the issue is very divisive, but only 43 percent support the player protests, while 49 percent oppose them. However, when asked specifically about the president's very controversial comments against the players, 60 percent of Americans disagreed with his statement.

With Americans so divided on the issue, Democrats will likely not move the needle against Trump if they try to use the NFL protests to push their political agenda.