Trump blasts kneeling football players, says ‘long way to go’ on election challenges

President Trump said Thursday he will leave office if the Electoral College elects Joe Biden as the next president, but he expressed optimism that his legal challenges to the election “have a long way to go.”

“A lot of things happening between now and Jan. 20,” the president said as he fielded a few questions from reporters during a Thanksgiving Day call with U. S. troops. 

In a sign he plans to stay fighting, Trump weighed in on one of his favorite topics later in the day — football players kneeling during the National Anthem. 

“No thanks,” Trump tweeted after Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson kneeled during their holiday game to protest police brutality. 

The president also announced he’s heading to Georgia to campaign Saturday for GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who face two runoffs in January that will decide control of the Senate. 

Asked by a reporter if he’d leave office if electors chose Biden, Trump answered “You know that I will” while demurring on whether he’d run again in 2024. 

“It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede,” he added.