Anti-American protester and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick says that socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani inspires him and makes him want to extol the virtues of voting in U.S. elections again.
Kaepernick, who became infamous for taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem back in 2016, has said in the past that he refused to participate in the American “system of oppression,” and has for years refused to vote on Election Day. But Mamdani is making him reevaluate his decision to refuse to exercise his right to vote and is pushing him to encourage his fans to vote.
“You know, I think it would be hypocritical of me to vote,” Kaepernick told the media in 2016, according to OutKick. “I said from the beginning I was against oppression, I was against the system of oppression. I’m not going to show support for that system. And to me, the oppressor isn’t going to allow you to vote your way out of your oppression.”
But now, in his new book, he is admitting that his refusal to vote might have been “irresponsible.”
“The realization coming out of the 2016 election is how significant the implications can be of not voting, even if you don’t fully think this candidate represents you, and I’ve seen that,” Kaepernick now says, according to NBC News. “We’ve seen it with the Supreme Court. We’ve seen it with federal judges.
“Part of trying to seek the best way for us to move forward and have impact is also realizing the moments where the intention of the perspective was right, but the strategy behind it actually wasn’t,” the former NFL player continued.
He also admits that he voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and then Kamala Harris in 2024.
While he may not be all that excited over those candidates, he apparently is inspired by the socialist New York mayor.
“When we talk about leaders that are moving the needle right now, I think we’re seeing real impact coming out of Mamdani,” Kaepernick said.
“It is very refreshing for a lot of people to see someone in a political role saying, ‘I am prioritizing the people’s needs. I’m going to hold people accountable to that, and we are just going to execute and deliver on this over and over again,'” he added.
Kaepernick also said he hopes that Mamdani can bring more people to political engagement.
“Ultimately, I think a lot of those people who are out there that say, ‘Hey, this doesn’t represent me, I’m not voting, or I don’t feel great about the politicians out there,’ it’s because they aren’t seeing people move in that way. The more that we see that come, we’ll see more and more people involved and excited about what is happening in the political sphere,” he concluded.
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