The Democratic Party’s candidate for the 2016 American Presidential Election, Hillary Clinton, applauded an 11-year-old girl after she made news for kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance, on Aug 15.
In retweeting a NowThis report on Mariana Taylor, a sixth-grader at a Maryland school, who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and decided to kneel instead, Clinton said it takes courage to protest like she did.
It takes courage to exercise your right to protest injustice, especially when you’re 11! Keep up the good work Mariana. https://t.co/vnGheuWyJ0
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 15, 2018
“It takes courage to exercise your right to protest injustice, especially when you’re 11! Keep up the good work Mariana.” – Clinton
Taylor, who said former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick inspired her, told the Washington Post in May that her teacher scolded her for kneeling during the pledge.
Eventually, her parents and the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union got involved, but the school district said she was not disciplined for her actions.
The school said: “We know of no [Baltimore County Public Schools] student who has been reprimanded or punished for nonparticipation in patriotic observances. We fully support students’ rights and encourage student voice as articulated in board policy.”
The Post described Taylor, who attends Catonsville Middle School, as a “sixth-grader with strong beliefs about racial injustice, sexism, gay rights and President Trump’s proposed wall at the Mexico border.”
In retweeting the NowThis post and in encouraging the girl’s protest, Clinton took the exact opposite stance of President Trump. Trump had publicly voiced his displeasure with football players like Kaepernick who choose to kneel during the national anthem.
In September 2017, President Trump said: “Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!”
Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
Clinton had similarly supported the NFL players’ decision to protest in the past. In her circuit to promote her book ‘What Happened’, she said: “And by the way, let’s be clear, those players aren’t protesting the national anthem or the flag, they’re protesting racism and injustice, and they have every right to do so.”