President Donald Trump questioned Nike’s decision to feature failed former quarterback Colin Kaepernick in a commercial.
“What was Nike thinking?” Trump wrote on Twitter Friday:
Trump expanded his criticism of the athletic company in an interview with Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth.
“I don’t like what Nike did. I don’t think it was appropriate what they did,” he said. “I honor the flag. I honor our national anthem, and most of the people in our country feel the same way.”
Nike’s favorability numbers fell 34 percent after its ad was announced for the opening broadcast of the NFL regular season.
Trump said he did not understand why the NFL was not enforcing its rule that athletes must stand for the national anthem, and he criticized the proposed compromise to allow NFL athletes to stay in the locker room during the anthem.
“I think that’s worse than kneeling, in a certain way. … That shows that you just have no respect for the anthem or the flag,” he said.