The controversy over NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem is reaching into the realm of Virginia politics. Now, as Michael Pope reports, one candidate for the United States Senate hopes the issue might bring new attention to his campaign.
Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart made a name for himself targeting undocumented immigrants long before Donald Trump started talking about it. He rode that brand of nativist populism almost all the way to the Republican nomination for governor earlier this year. Now he’s hoping the controversy surrounding the NFL might be his next big break. Standing in front of the NFL Players Association in Washington, Stewart is calling for an end to the antitrust exemption that allows NFL teams to negotiate television deals.
“The NFL has been given preferential treatment for a long time because we thought it was in the nation’s best interest. Well now the NFL has turned its back on the United States and therefore it’s time that we eliminate this preferential treatment.”
Bob Denton at Virginia Tech says the special election in Alabama this week may have shifted the political debate on the right, moving the Republican Party toward a style more in line with Roy Moore and Corey Stewart.
“There’s no question that what happened in Alabama may well provide additional legitimacy for a candidacy of Corey Stewart.”
Denton says Moore’s performance in the Alabama election might end up serving as a bellwether for how Stewart might perform in a Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, and perhaps even what kind of a challenge he could pose to incumbent Senator Tim Kaine in 2018.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
