Watch CBS News

Allen West: Kaepernick Hypocritical For Protest Of Anthem

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Former Congressman and Colonel, Allen West, criticized Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers for refusing to stand during the National Anthem to protest ongoing racial injustice in America.

West, during an interview with Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, believes Kapernick is being hypocritical.

 

"It is very disturbing and I just don't understand how we've gotten to this point in America where individuals who are multi-millionaires start to make these very insidious statements about oppression because when I think about Colin Kaepernick, as a young man, as an athlete, and I think about growing up down south, I remember Hank Aaron and some of the death threat letters that he got when he was about to break Babe Ruth's record. We grew up on the stories of Jackie Robinson."

READ: Malcolm Jenkins On Colin Kaepernick: 'Different Ways To Go About It'

He said the quarterback does not realize what has been sacrificed for him to make his protests.

"It's hard for me to understand how true patriotism can be in dishonoring the flag...Maybe Colin Kaepernick needs to take a hiatus and go over to Helmand Province, Afghanistan and throw a football with the young men and women who are there defending his right to say and do what he did. He needs to understand the privilege that he has when you have young men and women who are willing to stand on freedom's rampart."

West thinks the NFL should intervene and take some sort of action against Kaepernick.

READ: Kaepernick Refuses To Stand For Anthem In Protest

"I think that this politicized message that is out there, a lot of people are falling for it and the NFL has a very serious thing that they need to look into because, here in Dallas, they want to have a decal to remember the five police officers that we slain and the NFL told them no. Let's see how they handle this Kaepernick issue."

 
https://tunein.com/embed/player/s21950/

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.