Washington (CNN) Americans are sharply divided over whether NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem are doing the right thing to express their views, but a majority agree that President Donald Trump did the wrong thing by criticizing their actions, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Overall, 49% say the protesting players are doing the wrong thing to express their political opinion when they kneel during the National Anthem, while 43% say it's the right thing. Those views are sharply divided by race, partisanship and age. Among whites, 59% say the players are doing the wrong thing while 82% of blacks say it's the right thing to do. Almost 9 in 10 Republicans say it's the wrong thing (87%) while just about three-quarters of Democrats say the opposite (72%). And most younger Americans call it the right thing (56% among those under age 45) while a majority of older Americans say it's wrong (59% among those age 45 or older).Racial split over player protests: 82% of blacks say they're right vs. 34% of whitesSix in 10 say Trump did the wrong thing by criticizing protesting players24% say they plan to boycott NFL games, broadcasts or products due to protests
_' divisions over these protests extend to perceptions of what the protests mean. And there hasn't been a large shift in the share who see _ as distracted from the nation's most important problems.