October 10, 2017

First of all, let's talk about Representative Francis Rooney of Florida. Former ambassador to the Vatican and defender of the flag and the national anthem, of course he is.

Only three retweets Francis. Sad!

And he thinks NFL players who don't salute the flag and anthem as he does should be fired.

REP FRANCIS ROONEY (R-FL): My close friend Jerry Jones has shown the right way. He's confronted the problem. He's a genuine American hero. I'm glad he did it.

STEPHANIE RUHLE: You're glad Jerry Jones did it and you think the rest of the NFL owners should?

ROONEY: I think they should do what Jerry Jones did. I don't buy appeasement and hiding behind problems. I think we have to face the fact that this is America. That's our country. And we need to be prepared to honor it and defend it.

RUHLE: Well, freedom of speech is part of our country.

ROONEY: Oh, sure. But these are employees. If they're my employees, they'd be gone by now.

So the obvious first question is, does Francis Rooney hang out with his "close friend Jerry Jones" in hotel rooms with hookers?

(Yes, the Trump cabal of rich old white men is clearly a bunch of society-excused perverts.) But I digress...

Stephanie Ruhle doesn't bring up the hookers.

She brings up the so-called president. And it's delicious. Watch Rooney sputter and pivot:

RUHLE: Well, what if your employee -- excuse me. What if your employee was President Trump? Would it make sense for someone whose job is to protect the American people, fight for the American people to launch this war with the NFL with all the things he's got to do? Does that make a lot of sense?

ROONEY: Well, I think it's probably really an emotional problem for him to see these defiant disrespecting of the flag and the anthem. I'm focused on North Korea and Iran and hopefully getting some tax reform moving forward more than the NFL.

RUHLE: Without a doubt. It's certainly emotional for the president... leaving so many of us wondering why this strikes a chord with him. Why not the 3 million people suffering in Puerto Rico. The military moms worrying about their sons and daughters who are stationed overseas? You wonder, why is it a fight with the NFL, that's reaching the headlines. Well, I appreciate you joining me this morning....

More like Stephanie Ruhle, please.

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