Trump definitely knows some of the words to the national anthem

President Donald Trump definitely knows some of the words to the national anthem.

For months the president has politicized the singing of the anthem at sports games by calling for the firing of NFL players who kneel while it’s sung. And so it was noted how he held himself during the singing of the anthem Monday night before the College Football Playoff National Championship in Atlanta.

Trump was on a brief trip through the South; he spoke at the American Farm Bureau conference in Nashville earlier in the day, then attended the game in the evening, where he was met with a mix of cheers and boos. Trump stood on the field for the ceremonial singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" and sang some of the words, but paused at several points.

Watch ABC’s footage below:

In September, Trump implicitly called Colin Kaepernick, the former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who started the kneeling movement, a “son of a bitch” at a rally in Alabama. After the media picked up the speech, Trump doubled down on Twitter, calling on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to fire players who kneel during the anthem.

The players that Trump is criticizing are kneeling in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, in protest of police brutality. Kaepernick started the movement back in 2016, around the time that Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was shot by police while held to the ground by two officers in New Orleans.

It’s not the first time Trump appeared to botch the anthem. At a Memorial day celebration, Trump appeared to sing along with some of the song, and at the Easter Egg roll, first lady Melania Trump had to remind the president to put his hand over his heart.

As for the game itself: The University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide beat the University of Georgia’s Bulldogs 26–23.

Cover: President Donald Trump walks off the field following the national anthem before the start of the NCAA National Championship game between Alabama and Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)