The biggest message to come out of President Trump’s Friday rally in Alabama had nothing to do with its intended purpose of helping out Sen. Luther Strange. 
 
 The president urging NFL owners to “get that son of a bitch off the field right now” if any of their players take a knee during the national anthem immediately inflamed one of the biggest battles in America’s culture war. 
 
 Ever since then-San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick started taking a knee when the anthem played last season, Americans have argued fiercely on the merits of this particular brand of protest. 
 
 Conservatives have seen it as outrageous disrespect for the troops and the nation itself. Liberals and ESPN have portrayed it as a courageous act of defiance against racism and police brutality. 
 
 The debate hasn’t gone away this season, with more players participating in the protest while Kaepernick remains unemployed. 
 
 Trump has spent most of the weekend doubling down on his comments, as well as bringing the NBA into the matter, in the face of liberal outrage. The president’s opinion brought forth accusations that he was trying to take away the constitutional rights of Americans and that his sentiment was racist by nature. 
 
 In response to the president attacks, dozens of NFL players publicly criticized the president and joined in the anthem protests on Sunday. As one example, multiple players from both the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars took the knee while the anthem played during their game in London. Curiously, they all stood for “God Save the Queen.” 
 
 Several commentators, primarily from the Left, saw more players joining the protest as a major defeat for the president, but they’re off the mark. Folks like New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait think that Trump has turned the kneel into a free speech issue, which is going to naturally earn the sympathy of average Americans. 
 
 In reality, Trump has taken the side of the flag and provoked multi-millionaire athletes into opposing patriotism. When several players for the New England Patriots took a knee during the anthem on Sunday, their own fans booed them. So do fans of the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins when members of those respective teams knelt. (RELATED: Football Fans Boo Players Protesting National Anthem) 
 
 There are hardly two more liberal, anti-Trump areas in America than the Boston and D.C. metropolitan areas. Yet even football fans who live there can’t stand protests against the anthem. 
 
 Rather than earning sympathy for free speech, more players joining in the protest is more likely to alienate NFL fans from the game. Polling last year showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans thought that politics should be kept off the field. The number one reason for declining NFL ratings was due to national anthem protests, according to ESPN, of all places. 
 
 Hardcore Patriots fans booing their own team is not a good sign that the NFL is going to come out on top in its war with the president. 
 
 Trump’s involvement in the debate over national anthem protests shows him once again stepping into his kind of cultural war. No longer tied to religious or moral concerns, Trump’s forays into the culture war typically revolve around questions of national identity and pit middle Americans against various elites. 
 
 During his presidential campaign, Trump’s hardline views on immigration and the Muslim ban earned him unprecedented scorn from the media and political elites, but also support and votes from Republican voters. More recently, Trump faced a barrage of anger over his comments on the violence in Charlottesville, Va. where he blamed “both sides” and issued his support for Confederate statues. (RELATED: Trump’s Culture War) 
 
 Those statements earned him extreme opprobrium from political leaders in both parties, nearly all of Hollywood and the establishment media. Yet, polling showed a majority of Americans agreed with his comments, especially in regards to the statues. (RELATED: Poll: Clear Majority Want To Keep Confederate Statues) 
 
 In the fight over kneeling, Trump is facing off against out-of-touch athletes who appear to be opposing the flag and the troops. ESPN and most political pundits may think he is a dummy for engaging in this fight, but if NFL continues to lose fans over it, Trump will come out as the victor. 
 
 There is the other issue of whether the President of the United States should even be involving himself in such a matter, regardless of whether it will be to his advantage or not. In years past, the answer would have been a “no” to the question of whether it was presidential behavior. 
 
 But we increasingly expect our president to take sides in these cultural battles. Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama frequently weighed in on such topics as the name of the Redskins and Kaepernick taking a knee, albeit in a much more subdued manner. 
 
 Trump is embracing his status as an Oval Office cultural warrior to a much greater degree than Obama, for some good reason. His legislative agenda is almost entirely stalled, and he has little to show in terms of accomplishments for his base. In fact, the only thing he might accomplish legislatively this year is giving millions of illegal aliens legal status in exchange for nothing. 
 
 Fighting in the culture war on behalf of his base is the one area where Trump can do as he pleases. He doesn’t have to go through Congress to reduce the ratings of the NFL, he just needs a few tweets to do so. 
 
 At the same time, the culture is getting weaponized at unimaginable level against the president and his supporters by elites. Every awards show now resembles a Resistance rally where each speaker makes sure to bash Trump and red state America. Late night talk shows act more as venting chambers for liberal resentment than light-hearted comedy. A large number of celebrities dedicate their social media accounts almost entirely to politics and hating on Trump. 
 
 Last week saw a new height for our new, politicized culture. A bunch of Hollywood A-listers such as Morgan Freeman and Rob Reiner got together to promote an initiative to make the public believe Russia hacked the election and we’re at war with Vladimir Putin. (RELATED: Hollywood Liberals Team Up With Iraq War Hawks To ‘Protect Democracy’ Against Russia) 
 
 The GOP’s latest attempt to repeal Obamacare found its greatest foe not among the Democrats, but with late night host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel spent most of his opening monologues this week attacking Republicans for their bill and regurgitating talking points given to him by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. (RELATED: Chuck Schumer Coached Jimmy Kimmel Behind The Scenes On How To Oppose Obamacare Repeal) 
 
 The comic’s advocacy earned him plaudits from the media and he was able to get the message of the bill’s opponents out to the general public. It’s possible that the cultural elites’ intense rejection of the latest Obamacare repeal encouraged Arizona Sen. John McCain to say he would vote against it. 
 
 With the cultural elite declaring total war on Trump and his agenda thwarted in part by their efforts, Trump may have no other choice than to spend his term fighting various battles of the culture war. 
 
 His voters would probably prefer that option to a legislative agenda comprised entirely of amnesty for illegals and tax cuts for billionaires. 
 
 WATCH THIS: MAJORITY OF STEELERS PLAYERS REMAIN IN LOCKER ROOM DURING NATIONAL ANTHEM 
 
 WATCH DAILY CALLER BREAKDOWN THE NET-WORTH OF THE KNEELERS: 
 
 
 
 Follow Scott on Twitter and buy his new book, “No Campus for White Men.” ||||| Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump came under harsh criticism Saturday from the NFL and some of the NBA's top players after he blasted prominent athletes for kneeling during the national anthem and refusing to come to the White House, putting himself in the center of a controversy with significant racial and cultural undertones. 
 
 NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell slammed Trump in a statement Saturday morning, calling the President "divisive" for remarks he made at a rally in Alabama Friday night, while one of the most famous athletes in the world, LeBron James, called Trump a "bum" for his Saturday morning tweet uninviting Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry from visiting the White House. 
 
 The Golden State Warriors issued a statement later Saturday accepting Trump's dis-invitation. 
 
 "While we intended to meet as a team at the first opportunity we had this morning to collaboratively discuss a potential visit to the White House, we accept that President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited," the team said. 
 
 The statement added that while the team will not be visiting the White House, its players will still come to the nation's capital in February "to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion — the values that we embrace as an organization." 
 
 Former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant also tweeted a rebuke of Trump. 
 
 "A #POTUS whose name alone creates division and anger. Whose words inspire dissension and hatred can't possibly 'Make America Great Again,'" Bryant wrote 
 
 Trump's Twitter response 
 
 Trump responded to the criticisms Saturday in a series of tweets, saying that playing for a sports league is a "privilege" and that players should not be able to disrespect the American flag or the US without risking being "fired." 
 
 "If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect ...." Trump tweeted . "Our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!" 
 
 Later, he added of Goodell's criticism: "Roger Goodell of NFL just put out a statement trying to justify the total disrespect certain players show to our country. Tell them to stand!" 
 
 Roger Goodell of NFL just put out a statement trying to justify the total disrespect certain players show to our country.Tell them to stand! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017 
 
 The President's Twitter posts continued Sunday morning, saying if fans stayed away from the games because of the players' protests, "you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!" 
 
 Trump then focused on recent attendance at some NFL games and said ratings were "way down." 
 
 "Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.," he tweeted. 
 
 If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017 
 
 ...NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017 
 
 Trump's tweets and harsh reaction highlight an extraordinary moment -- the President, NFL commissioner and top basketball players embroiled in a public fight over unity and patriotism. 
 
 Goodell said Trump's criticism of NFL players kneeling in protest during the National Anthem showed a "lack of respect" for the league and its players. 
 
 "The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture," Goodell said in the statement. "There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we've experienced over the last month. Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities." 
 
 New York Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch called Trump's NFL comments "inappropriate" on Saturday. 
 
 "Comments like we heard last night from the president are inappropriate, offensive and divisive," their statement said. "We are proud of our players, the vast majority of whom use their NFL platform to make a positive difference in our society." 
 
 Several team owners expressed similar comments. 
 
 New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a friend of Trump's, said he was "deeply disappointed by the tone " of Trump's remarks at the Friday night rally. 
 
 "There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics," Kraft said in a statement Sunday. "I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal." 
 
 Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said the country needed "unifying leadership right now, not more divisiveness." 
 
 "I know our players who kneeled for the anthem and these are smart young men of character who want to make our world a better place for everyone," Ross said in a statement Saturday. 
 
 "We all have the responsibility to use this platform to promote understanding, respect and equality," he added. 
 
 San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York called Trump's remarks "callous and offensive" and "contradictory to what this great country stands for." 
 
 "Our players have exercised their rights as United States citizens in order to spark conversation and action to address social injustice," York said in a statement Saturday. "We will continue to support them in their peaceful pursuit of positive change in our country and around the world." 
 
 Trump's remarks at rally 
 
 At Alabama GOP Sen. Luther Strange's campaign rally Friday, Trump said team owners should fire players for taking a knee during the national anthem. He added that if fans would "leave the stadium" when players kneel in protest during the national anthem, "I guarantee, things will stop." 
 
 Trump appeared to be referring to Colin Kaepernick -- formerly with the San Francisco 49ers, but currently without a team -- who last year drew national attention for refusing to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to kickoff. 
 
 "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in August 2016. 
 
 Then, on Saturday morning, Trump tweeted that Curry's invitation to the White House was revoked. 
 
 "Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!" Trump wrote. 
 
 Curry had remarked at the Warriors' media day Friday that he doesn't want to attend the White House ceremony scheduled to commemorate the title. 
 
 "'By acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye to,'' Curry told reporters. ''It's not just the act of not going. There are things you have to do on the back end to actually push that message into motion." 
 
 Athletes, entertainers respond 
 
 James was among the first athletes to respond to Trump on Saturday. 
 
 "U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going!" James tweeted. "So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!" 
 
 Many of the reactions to Trump's tweets highlighted the underlying racial tensions some consider at issue. 
 
 ESPN anchor Jemele Hill tweet ed to Curry, "Hey @StephenCurry30, welcome to the club bro." 
 
 Last week , Trump demanded an apology on Twitter for a series of tweets Hill had sent describing Trump as a white supremacist. Later White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Fox News that Hill's tweets were "highly inappropriate, and I think ESPN should take actions." 
 
 Singer-songwriter John Legend also tweeted about Trump Saturday saying of Curry's decision, "Perhaps it's not a great honor while your stench is there.' 
 
 Legend continued with a series of tweets aimed at the President. 
 
 "Trump thrives on division and chaos. He wants to pit us against each other because he thinks his side can win (w/voter suppression, etc.)," Legend tweeted later in the afternoon. 
 
 In a video released Saturday afternoon, music producer and rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs called for members of the NFL to do something "really great" on Sunday, when most of the week's football games will be played. He added: "You all represent us." 
 
 "If you do whatever you do in unity, you can't be stopped," Combs said in the video. "Just do the math man. Stick together, stand up together, rally for each other. Because believe me, we're all we got -- it has nothing to do with football and business." 
 
 Combs later tweeted from his personal account, "THE LINE HAS BEEN CROSSED!!!! Time to show them #blackexcellence LETS GO! #teamlove REPRESENT REPRESENT!" 
 
 He added a split photo that at the top showed white supremacists holding Confederate and Nazi flags under the words "very fine people" -- a reference to Trump's description of both white supremacist protesters and counterprotesters after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month -- and at the bottom three 49ers players taking a knee during the national anthem under the words "Sons of Bitches." 
 
 Meanwhile, legendary musician Stevie Wonder took a knee at a New York music festival Saturday. 
 
 "Tonight, I'm taking a knee for America; but not just one knee, I'm taking both knees," he said on stage before his performance at the Global Citizen Festival. 
 
 "Both knees in prayer for our planet, our future, our leaders of the world and our globe. Amen." 
 
 The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Trump's tweet about Curry and whether the invitation will be withdrawn. ||||| CLOSE After Donald Trump said NFL players should be fired for kneeling during the national anthem, NFL players, owners and coaches condemned Trump's comments. USA TODAY Sports 
 
 Attacking #TakeTheKnee and First Amendment has nothing to do with patriotism or love of country: Our view 
 
 The Cleveland Browns during the national anthem on Sept. 24, 2017, in Indianapolis. (Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images) 
 
 The outpouring of defiance toward President Trump that spread across the National Football League on Sunday harkens to a single phrase directed at fear-mongering Sen. Joe McCarthy during a congressional hearing in 1954. 
 
 "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" said an Army lawyer, crystallizing in a moment the politics of division behind McCarthyism and its persecution of innocents. 
 
 Similarly, Trump's ad hominem attacks against "son of a bitch" players such as former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sit or kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality, had nothing to do with patriotism or love of country. When he demanded NFL owners fire protesting players, it was vintage Trump stoking flames of anger and resentment. 
 
 OPPOSING VIEW: Good call, Mr. President 
 
 Why did the president do it now, when the #TakeTheKnee movement seemed to be waning? Who knows? Maybe he was trying to whip up his core supporters. Or maybe it's his latest effort to employ a weapon of mass distraction. Why focus on a likely loss on Obamacare repeal, or a possible loss for your favored candidate in the Alabama Republican Senate runoff, when you can try to stir public resentment of a pampered athletic elite? 
 
 The president, after all, has such a keen eye for ways to divide people, as he has demonstrated with the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., his dissing of undocumented immigrants, his travel ban focused on Muslim-majority nations, and his effort to excise transgender troops from the military. 
 
 Plus, this NFL controversy would be delicious payback. Trump for decades tried to earn a seat at the NFL owners' table, but his bids for the New England Patriots in 1988 and the Buffalo Bills in 2014 fell short. The anthem protest issue was such a ripe wedge issue. Nearly three in four Americans said they thought it was unpatriotic last year, and the protests led reasons why some viewers have stopped watching NFL games. 
 
 The only problem is that professional athletes and team owners alike recognized Trump's crude move for the ruse that it is: "With everything that's going on in our country, why are YOU focused on who's kneeling?" NBA star Chris Paul tweeted. 
 
 CLOSE AP reporters counted more than 200 NFL players who did not stand during the national anthem before their games on Sunday. Six refused to stand the week before, mainly protesting police brutality. AP 
 
 As of Sunday afternoon, players from more than a dozen football teams had chosen to stay seated, lock arms, or take a knee during the anthem. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admonished Trump on Saturday for being divisive. Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a Trump friend and financial backer, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the president. Jaguars owner Shahid Khan joined his players and coaches in protest, as did the owners of the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. The Pittsburgh Steelers stayed off the field during the song. 
 
 An epidemic of impertinence? Not at all. Rather, it was an audacious rejection of Trump's divisive ploy. 
 
 Allowing someone the right to dissent peacefully is part of the nation's patriotic tradition. Using the bully pulpit of the presidency to rain aspersions down on someone who dares to do so is simply indecent. 
 
 USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature. 
 
 To read more editorials, go to the Opinion front page or sign up for the daily Opinion email newsletter. To respond to this editorial, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. 
 
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– NFL players' reaction to President Trump in regard to the national anthem was, not surprisingly, a big topic on Monday's op-ed pages. Here's a sampling: Wall Street Journal: The newspaper's editorial sounds fed up with everybody involved, blaming the left for initially exploiting the Colin Kaepernick situation, then Trump for exploiting the blowback. It adds that players who kneel shouldn't be surprised to hear boos, because "disrespecting the national anthem puts partisanship above a symbol of nationhood that thousands have died for." But ultimately, the real losers in all this "are the millions of Americans who would rather cheer for their teams on Sunday as a respite from work and the other divisions of American life." Daily Caller: In a column, Scott Greer writes that Trump seems to be relishing his role as an "Oval Office culture warrior," perhaps because his legislative agenda keeps hitting roadblocks. This fight may pay off: "In the fight over kneeling, Trump is facing off against out-of-touch athletes who appear to be opposing the flag and the troops. ESPN and most political pundits may think he is a dummy for engaging in this fight, but if [the] NFL continues to lose fans over it, Trump will come out as the victor." New York Times: Its editorial pits Trump as the villain here and Kaepernick as the hero of sorts. The QB still can't find a team, but the weekend protests "might well have been a huge victory for free speech and the cause of racial justice he has so bravely espoused." The editorial gives the last word to LeBron James, who tweeted of Trump that "going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!” Washington Post: The editors don't care what Trump thinks of Kaepernick. But "when his response to protest is to question patriotism rather than engage on the issue of unequal policing—then it is Mr. Trump who 'disrespects our Flag & our Country.'" USA Today: Its editorial faults Trump as "divider in chief" and says his use of the presidential bully pulpit to fault those exercising their right to dissent is "simply indecent." But an op-ed at the newspaper by former Nebraska Congressman Jon Christensen praises Trump's move. "When millionaire athletes refuse to honor America and pay homage to the men and women who died for our freedom, and instead, choose to use their field of occupation to make a statement, then I can choose to turn the channel." They do indeed deserve to be fired, he adds.