Gary Lineker has been praised after he unleashed a wave of right-wing tears for criticising those against taking the knee.
Posting on Twitter, the broadcaster and former footballer said people who “boo” England football players for taking the knee before matches to express support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement were “part of the reason” people take the knee, and the usual suspects threw their toys out of the pram.
If you boo @England players for taking the knee, you’re part of the reason why players are taking the knee.— Gary Lineker 💙 (@Gary Lineker 💙) 1622971884
Reacting to his comments, failed London mayoral candidate Laurence Fox called Lineker a “moral supremacist”.
If you don’t boo a bunch of spoiled millionaire ball chasers taking the knee to a Marxist cult whose stated aim is… https://t.co/C5VVqn27pK— Laurence Fox ✝️ (@Laurence Fox ✝️) 1622984743
And former Brexit Party MEP Martin Daubney said his stance was “utter rubbish”.
It comes after England’s manager Gareth Southgate said players would continue to take the knee before games and slammed fans for booing the team last Wednesday, before their friendly win against Austria.
Speaking to the press, he said: “We accept that there might be an adverse reaction but we’re going to ignore that and move forward.
“The players are sick of talking about the consequences of should they, shouldn’t they. They’ve had enough really, and as far as I’m concerned they’re not going to take more questions on this through the tournament. If it happens, it happens.”
This led to Tory MP Lee Anderson saying he would boycott matches and lovely figures like Nigel Farage saying:
Gareth Southgate doesn't seem to understand that the BLM movement is not only Marxist but divisive too. England f… https://t.co/lkGSdx1S1k— Nigel Farage (@Nigel Farage) 1622984499
And now that Lineker has weighed in, people have expressed their glee that he has wound up all the right people:
love seeing marxist trend because you just know it’s filled with idiots who have no fucking clue what it actually means 😭— eve (taylor’s version) (@eve (taylor’s version)) 1622973703
Well said Gary Lineker. https://t.co/VBrJUvRDCP— Hack-In-The-Green (@Hack-In-The-Green) 1622977619
@MartinDaubney Gary Lineker is right— Huw Peach 💙 #FBPE #ClimateActionNow (@Huw Peach 💙 #FBPE #ClimateActionNow) 1622978968
@GaryLineker @England Here for all the idiots claiming it’s “Marxist” because the Daily Mail told them— Ashley (@Ashley) 1622971934
Would love to see Gary lineker advertising some new Gammon flavour crisps, that should get them moaning.— wobbs (@wobbs) 1622981389
Looks like Gary Lineker has triggered the gammons again 🍿 https://t.co/zLVzFq4cEu— Carrie (not Princess Nut Nuts) 💙🇪🇺💨🪁🏄🏻♂️🦋 (@Carrie (not Princess Nut Nuts) 💙🇪🇺💨🪁🏄🏻♂️🦋) 1622978910
We certainly can’t complain that he’s annoyed Laurence Fox.