Ryan: Not placing hand on heart for anthem wasn’t protest
Posted July 31, 2019 8:33 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
DETROIT — Democrat Tim Ryan says he didn’t put his hand over his heart when the national anthem was played at the presidential debate because of “absent-mindedness,” not as a sign of protest.
The Ohio congressman was the only one of the 10 candidates at the Detroit debate not to place a hand over their heart during “The Star-Spangled Banner” Tuesday night.
Ryan stood with his hands clasped in front.
Critics called Ryan out on social media, saying he was disrespectful and questioning whether it was a protest similar to former NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the anthem.
Ryan’s campaign says in a statement he wasn’t protesting and “didn’t mean to make any statement.”
The campaign calls it “a moment of absent-mindedness while on a debate stage that won’t happen again.”
The Associated Press
