A U.S. Navy admiral received a standing ovation after he slammed football player Colin Kaepernick at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
U.S. Pacific Command Commander Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. took a shot at Kaepernick for his refusal to stand during the national anthem, even though he never mentioned the football player by name, Fox News reported.
“You can bet that the men and women that we honor today – and those who died that fateful morning 75 years ago – never took a knee and never failed to stand when they heard our national anthem being played,” Harris said.
The crowd erupted in applause after he finished his statement.
Kaepernick has come under fire since his decision in September to kneel during the national anthem before NFL games as a way of protesting police violence in America.
In a recent interview with Breitbart Sports, Kaepernick said that “many things need to be addressed” before he would stand for the national anthem.
“There are many things that need to be addressed and when those things are addressed fully, then I’ll stand,” he said. “There will be a lot of things that will have to happen. That will be something that when I feel comfortable with what this country is doing and how black people and people of color are being treated then I will stand.”