President Barack Obama Defends Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest

President Barack Obama weighed in on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s non-violent protest during a presidential town hall Wednesday.

According to Daniella Diaz of CNN, an audience member asked Obama about Kaepernick’s decision not to stand during the national anthem before his team takes the field.

“I believe that us honoring our flag and our anthem is part of what binds us together as a nation,” the president responded. “But I also always try to remind folks that part of what makes this country special is that we respect people’s rights to have a different opinion.”

While Obama defended Kaepernick’s right to kneel during the anthem, he pointed out he thinks the “protesters should be aware that the reason they are able to share their opinions [is] because people ‘fight’ for them to be able to do so,” per Diaz.

Obama stressed the importance of listening to one another and understanding there are differences of opinions, per Diaz:

I want (the protesters) to listen to the pain that that may cause somebody who, for example, had a spouse or a child who was killed in combat and why it hurts them to see somebody not standing. But I …

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