San Francisco 49ers

President Trump says he's the reason Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned

Published Mar. 21, 2017 10:00 a.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

Free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned and has generated little to no interest from teams across the NFL. He decided to hit the open market by opting out of his contract with the 49ers, hoping to land a more lucrative deal elsewhere.

That obviously hasn’t worked in his favor despite saying publicly that he will stand for the national anthem this upcoming season. President Donald Trump believes he knows why Kaepernick hasn’t signed with a team yet, and he shared it during a Monday night rally in Louisville, Kentucky.

“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,” he said. “Do you believe that? I just saw that. I said, ‘If I remember that one I’m gonna report it to the people of the Kentucky because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag.’ ”

Back in August, Trump made his thoughts on Kaepernick’s stance very clear. He responded to Kaepernick by calling him “openly racist” and saying this:

"I think it's personally not a good thing. I think it's a terrible thing. And, you know, maybe he should find a country that works better for him. Let him try. It won't happen."