On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence left the Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers game after several players knelt during the National Anthem, according to CNN. According to the rule, before the game, sports players should stand to obey the US national anthem playing.

Some players began kneeling down during the anthem to show their disagreement with racial injustice. Colin Kaepernick was the first player who violated the standing rule during the anthem and started the kneeling protests in 2016. For the last time, other famous players have continued "taking a knee" at the public events.

President Trump regarded their behavior as disrespectful and announced that the NFL (National Football League) should fire them, BBC reported.

Trump emphasized Pence's decision

Earlier, Pence shared a photo of himself and his spouse Karen at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, supporting Colts and wearing their attributes. Although the vice president tweeted that he was looking forward to watching the NFL match in his home state which he left because of players disrespect to the anthem.

After going out of the stadium, Pence uploaded another picture which demonstrated him and his wife standing during the anthem at the Sunday match. In some time, Donald Trump claimed that he told Pence to leave the match if any players would kneel, demonstrating their disrespect to the country.

President Trump also noted that he was proud of him and Karen for that decision. On his official Twiter account, Pence wrote that he "will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem."

Donald Trump Jr. also expressed his respect for the Pences' leave on social media. He noted that after almost 10 years it was great to have the government which is proud of its country again.

Pence faced criticism for his public walkout

The journalists following the vice president and his spouse had to stay out of the stadium, but they were told to wait in their vehicles for some time. A staffer said them that Pence would possibly leave the event early. President Trump and Pence were criticized for the planned walkout.

The Pences' photo with Colts' symbolic could have been used in 2014, so critics claimed that his walkout was a publicity stunt. Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz wrote that if it had been orchestrated, it was rather cheap. San Francisco safety Eric Reid made a criticizing video for Pence's planned stunt, noting that it was only a PR.