Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) is calling on former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to leave the country if he hates America so much, saying he is among a group of “very radical people” that does not “like the foundational principles that have made us a great nation.”
Kaepernick, who has not been employed since the 2016 season, made national headlines this past week when his objections to Nike’s “Betsy Ross flag” shoes caused the company to pull the product from circulation.
In a Wednesday interview with SiriusXM Patriot’s “Breitbart News Tonight,” Brooks was asked to react to Kaepernick’s and Nike’s actions.
“Well, I hope the public will see it as a shot across the bow,” the north Alabama congressman responded.
“We’ve got some very radical people in the United States of America who don’t like America,” Brooks continued. “They don’t like the foundational principles that have made us a great nation. And I would put Mr. Kaerpernick in that category.”
He questioned why the former football player, who rose to prominence because of his protests of the national anthem and flag, stays in the United States.
“For him to protest a shoe because it has an American flag on it is absolutely absurd,” Brooks emphasized. “In my mind, perhaps he ought to consider moving to a country where he believes the laws are better for his purposes. I doubt he will do that, because in this country, we’ve had over a million Americans die fighting for our liberties, from the time of the Revolutionary War to the current date in places all around the globe, and one of those liberties is freedom of speech. Another liberty is the right to vote, to control our government, and of course, we’ve got a strong economy, we’ve got one of the best national defenses, militaries, the world has ever seen. And all of these things that we enjoy, he seems to frown upon. So, I just assume he leave.”
Brooks was then asked if he expected to see more conservative officials start standing up to so-called political correctness run amok, similar to Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) pulling economic incentives from Nike over their capitulation to Kaepernick.
“I sure hope so,” Brooks remarked. “For a long period of time, radical socialists have used economic power as a means for achieving their goals. Often those powers consist of intimidation or threats, perhaps boycotts.”
“Perhaps now, it’s time for patriots to start boycotting companies like Nike if they are embarrassed about the patriotism that has helped make America who we are,” he added.
Listen:
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.