Democrat candidate for U.S. senate from Texas, Robert Francis (Beto) O’Rourke, has score a major campaign victory according to the state and local press for his answer and position on the NFL-national-anthem controversy.
On Friday, Aug. 10, at a town hall event in Houston, a man who identified himself as a veteran from a family of veterans told O’Rouke that he was offended by football players’ protests during the "Star-Spangled Banner". He asked if O'Rourke agreed.
O’Rouke answered, "My short answer is no, I don't think it's disrespectful. Reasonable people can disagree on this issue…let's begin there. And it makes them no less American for them to come down on a different conclusion."
He compared their protest to the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr., noting that the NFL players and other major sports figures were focusing public attention on “police brutality involving unarmed black men, women and children.”