San Francisco 49ers

Video: Donald Trump criticizes Colin Kaepernick at rally in Kentucky

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

President Donald Trump criticized free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick at a rally in Louisville on Monday, saying the people of Kentucky “like it when people actually stand for the American flag.”

Trump began the tangent about Kaepernick by referring to him as “your San Francisco quarterback—I’m sure nobody’s ever heard of him.”

“There was an article today, it was reported, that NFL owners don’t want to pick him up because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump,” Trump said, referring to an article by Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman published Friday. “I said, ‘If I remember that one I’m gonna report it to the people of Kentucky—because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag.”

“First, some teams genuinely believe that he can't play,” Freeman quoted an anonymous AFC general manager as saying. “They think he's shot. I'd put that number around 20 percent.

“Second some teams fear the backlash from fans after getting him. They think there might be protests or [President Donald] Trump will tweet about the team. I’d say that number is around 10 percent. Then there's another 10 percent that has a mix of those feelings.”

Kaepernick, who knelt during the national anthem last season to protest police brutality, reportedly plans to stand for the anthem next season.

Earlier in the rally, Trump referred to the Louisville Cardinals basketball team, saying “we could have been watching a good basketball game tonight.” Had Louisville not lost to Michigan, it would have played Thursday.