Malcolm Jenkins Responds to White House Snub With Signs: ‘You Aren’t Listening’

Sports

Philadelphia Eagles safety gives reporters the silent treatment after the team’s scheduled visit with Trump was canceled

Philadelphia Eagles Malcolm Jenkins Philadelphia Eagles Malcolm Jenkins
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Malcolm Jenkins’ silence spoke volumes on Wednesday.

The day after the Philadelphia Eagles were scheduled to visit the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl LII victory, the strong safety refused to answer questions from a crowd of reporters and instead held up signs voicing his opinion about the current political climate.

“You aren’t listening,” read one handwritten sign. “More than 60% of people in prison are people of color,” said another.

The media standoff in the Eagles’ locker room during NFL minicamp was prompted by President Trump disinviting the Super Bowl champions to the White House this week, saying it was because the players “disagree with their president” who “insists that they proudly stand for their national anthem.”

On Tuesday, Jenkins hit back at the White House in a long Twitter post, calling the snub a way to “paint the picture that these players are anti-America, anti-flag, anti-military” — but he clearly thought his message fell on deaf ears and decided to clarify exactly what players have been protesting.

According to ESPN, the rest of his signs read:

“Any given night 500,000 sit in jail. Convicted? No. Too Poor? Yes #EndCashBail”

“Chris Long gave his entire year’s salary to educational initiatives”

“Colin Kaepernick gave $1 million to charity”

“Devin McCourty Duron Harmon, Matt Slater and Johnson Bademosi lobbied to raise the age from 7 to 12 entering the criminal justice system”

“in 2018 439 439 people shot and killed by police (thus far)”

Jenkins had previously said that he would not attend the traditional visit to meet the president after the Eagles beat the New England Patriots on Feb. 5

He isn’t the only Eagles player to blast the White House’s statement. On Monday, wide receiver Torrey Smith wrote on Twitter that “It’s a cowardly act to cancel the celebration because the majority of the people don’t want to see you. To make it about the anthem is foolish.”

See more Twitter images of Jenkins’ protest below.

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