White House press secretary: NFL players should protest police, not flag

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that NFL players should focus their protests on the police, not the U.S. flag, if the goal of their demonstrations is to end brutality by officers.

"I think if the debate, for them, is really about police brutality, they should probably protest the officers on the field that are protecting them instead of the American flag," Sanders told reporters.

Sanders also defended Trump's decision to call for any players who protest during the anthem to be "fired."

"It's always appropriate for the president of this country to promote our flag, to promote the national anthem, and ask people to respect it," Sanders said, according to Variety's Ted Johnson.