'Empty Patriotism': MSNBC Guest Blasts Trump's Hypocritical Defense of the Flag While Coddling Putin

Professor of African-American studies Eddie Glaude on Tuesday decried President Donald Trump and his supporters' supposed patriotism after the United States' summit with Russia in Helsinki.

At the meeting, Trump cast doubt on the intelligence community's determination that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed efforts to influence the 2016 election. He also declined to find fault with Russia for anything in particular, while calling the United States "foolish" and denouncing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

"It's an empty patriotism that I find sickening," said Glaude on MSNBC's "Meet the Press."

"These are the same people who will lose their minds over professional football players taking a knew over police brutality," he continued. "These are the same people who will proclaim the importance of our national borders and national defense and justify separating babies [and] children because of their so-called commitment."

He added: "And here you have Donald Trump going right over and sitting next to Vladimir Putin. And he can't muster the courage to defend the men and women who are supposedly defending our country. It's an empty kind of patriotism that reeks of a hypocrisy that I can't stand."

Watch the clip below: