Spectators at a Portland Thorns soccer game made their feelings on President Donald Trump very clear at a U.S. Armed Forces swearing-in ceremony at Providence Park. During the halftime of a game between the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage on Wednesday a group of enlistees came to the field and took the Oath of Enlistment. These types of events aren’t all that uncommon at sporting events across the country and the Thorns decided to schedule the ceremony after they realized they would be playing on Sept. 11.
The crowd cheered for the enlistees but when they got to the part of the oath where they had to pledge to “obey the orders of the President of the United States,” the crowd erupted in boos and jeers.
The move came as some soccer fans are still angry that Major League Soccer changed its code of conduct to ban any kind of political signs at games. Although the National Women’s Soccer League doesn’t have a similar blanket prohibition, the Thorns has enforced the ban on political signs this season. Some took to social media to complain that including a military swearing-in ceremony as part of a game was a political act and contradicts the current prohibitions.
