Donald Trump didn’t let Colin Kaepernick’s national-anthem protest — or criticism of both presidential candidates — pass without a retaliatory comment Monday.
“Well I have followed it, and I think it’s personally not a good thing. I think it’s a terrible thing,” Trump told Seattle radio station KIRO 93.7-FM.
“Maybe he should find a country that works better for him. Let him try. It won’t happen.”
Kaepernick has sat rather than stand with his 49ers teammates during the national anthem in their exhibition games, and he plans to continue doing so to bring attention to racial injustice and other social concerns.
While explaining his rationale Sunday, Kaepernick turned his attention to the U.S. presidential race.
“The two presidential candidates that we currently have also represent the issue that we have in this country right now,” Kaepernick said.
Asked to expand on that, Kaepernick gladly did so.
“I mean, you have Hillary (Clinton) who has called black teens, or black kids ‘super predators.’ You have Donald Trump, who is openly racist,” Kaepernick said.
“I mean, we have a presidential candidate who has deleted emails and done things illegally and is a presidential candidate. That doesn’t make sense to me. If that was any other person, you’d be in prison. So, what is this country really standing for?”
Trump’s reaction wasn’t the only one Monday.
Martin Halloran, the San Francisco Police Officers Association president, sent a letter Monday to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and 49ers CEO Jed York denouncing Kaepernick’s “ill-advised” statements and a naivete “and total lack of sensitivity” toward police, along with an “incredible lack of knowledge” about officer-involved shootings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CamInman.
