CLAIM: Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick prayed while kneeling during the 2016 national anthem.
DECISION: Wrong. Colin Kaepernick has spoken for six years about his reasons for kneeling and never once said that he did it to protect his religion.
Broadcasting on the far left show on ABC’s daytime talk on Tuesday, comedian Joy Behar allegedly made a false claim that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was “ejected from the team” for praying on the side while kneeling during the national anthem.
Joy Behar at the SCOTUS Prayer Trial: “I want to know if this is about Colin Kaepernick… the guy got down on his knees and got kicked off the team. He… he could have prayed that these people would leave him alone… Suddenly it was illegal for him, but normal for this group. ” pic.twitter.com/KTDu3F8tNb
– Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) 28 June 2022
Behar’s false statement came while discussing the Supreme Court ruling that a Washington High school coach was wrongfully punished for praying on the field at high school football games.
Colin Kaepernick was the San Francisco 49ers’ second quarterback during the 2016 season when he knelt in front of the national anthem to protest the country. He became a free agent the following season, but neither team has signed him and he has not played since.
However, Kaepernick did not talk about “praying” and claimed that his actions were always a political protest, although surprisingly Béhar said that Kaepernick was “praying”. The US Constitution must therefore cover his actions.
Colin Kaepernick threw the ball in a spring game in Michigan. (Jaime Crawford/Getty Images)
In a June 28 broadcast, Behar said, “I want to know if this applies to Colin Kaepernick, for example?” she wondered.
Completely mischaracterizing Kaepernick’s moves, he continued, “He knelt down – I don’t know if that’s really legal or what I call it – but to me it was like the guy was on his knees and was kicked out of the team.” But he could pray, pray, see that these people would leave him alone. I don’t know what you’re praying for. But he could pray. Who knows what he does when he gets down on his knees. Isn’t it like praying for you? It suddenly became illegal for him, but that’s okay with this guy. ”
It was clear that Behar had no idea what he was talking about. Even if Kaepernick kneels down, the Supreme Court case they’re appealing doesn’t apply to him. The entity is concerned with the taxpayer-funded school district and teacher/coach penalty. This is the citizen’s case against the state. But in Kaepernick’s case, all parties are private and no public interest is involved.
Also, Kaepernick was never “kicked off” due to his protests. His contract expired at the end of the 2016 season and he was unable to find another team to sign him. You could of course claim he was blacklisted, but neither team fired him because of his protests.
Other than that, however, Kaepernick hasn’t said that he “prays” sideways when he kneels every six years. Of course, his motives moved from one subject to the next, but by his own admission, religious self-expression was never his goal.
Colin Kaepernick training for NFL scouts. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
When Kaepernick launched his protests in 2016, he openly said he couldn’t stand the American flag. His protest was a direct attack on the flag and country, which he said in his own words in August 2016.
“I will not stand up to be proud of the flag of a country that oppresses blacks and people of color. For me it is more than football and it would be selfish to look the other way. “There are corpses in the streets, people have paid vacations and survived the murder,” he said.
But Kaepernick provided other clues about the nature of his protests in 2016, and none of those reasons are related to his religion.
For example, he wore a shirt praising Fidel Castro, a mass murderer and Cuban dictator who declared himself an enemy of America. Kaepernick also revealed that she didn’t protest some police misconduct when she wore socks that identified all cops as pigs.
Moreover, in 2016, Kaepernick said that the USA has never been good, stating that in the anthem protests he was not only supporting “social justice” but against the whole country as a whole.
The former NFL player also voiced his protest with the flag when he forced Nike to drop Betsy Ross’ flagship shoes in 2019. He attacked Nike for this offer. In one of her speeches against Nike, Kaepernick even said that the American flag, Betsy Ross, was a “symbol of slavery.”
Joy Behar only invents things that fit her political agenda.
Source: Breitbart
