As we told you last night, President Donald Trump cancelled today’s planned visit to the White House of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after it became clear that many on the team wouldn’t be coming anyway.
And in place of the now-cancelled event, the president announced a patriotic concert complete with the national anthem, of course.
“Honoring America! NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!” he tweeted:
We will proudly be playing the National Anthem and other wonderful music celebrating our Country today at 3 P.M., The White House, with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus. Honoring America! NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018
We have had many Championship teams recently at the White House including the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Penguins, New England Patriots, Alabama and Clemson National Champions, and many others. National Anthem & more great music today at 3:00 P.M.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018
According to reports, “fewer than 10” players were going to attend the festivities today:
UPDATED: Fewer than 10 Eagles players planned to attend tomorrow's White House ceremony with @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/biAsj6gxfp
— Philly.com (@phillydotcom) June 5, 2018
“The Eagles promised to have about 70 people there last week. By Monday, the team said only 10 to 12 people might come” https://t.co/XULy2mSV5x
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 5, 2018
And Philly’s mayor, calling Trump “a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend,” was not happy with the cancellation, to say the least:
Philly mayor Jim Kenney's statement is pointed.
After President Trump disinvited the #Eagles to the White House, Kenney calls him "a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend." pic.twitter.com/90pHhIR4SU
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) June 5, 2018
According to players, the Trump’s reaction to the national anthem protesters was only part of it:
https://twitter.com/TorreySmithWR/status/1003788133534715906
https://twitter.com/TorreySmithWR/status/1003785689555664897
Philadelphia Eagles wise receiver Torrey Smith said in February that most of his teammates wouldn’t go to the White House. Here was his reason. Sounds about right. pic.twitter.com/12vyVBn1LB
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) June 5, 2018
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Related:
JOURNALISM! NBC News' Andrea Mitchell leads cheers for Philadelphia Eagles after Trump's disinvite https://t.co/UjYpjxVUlt
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 5, 2018