O.J. Simpson Says He Agrees With Trump on Colin Kaepernick: ‘He Made a Bad Choice in Attacking the Flag’

O.J. Simpson revealed his thoughts on the state of the union under President Donald Trump and Colin Kaepernick’s movement to kneel during the national anthem in his first comprehensive interview in nearly a decade.

The Buffalo News conducted a wide-ranging interview published on Friday with the former football star, whose murder trials captivated the nation in 1995, asking him about life since prison. He shared candid views on Kaepernick, expressing support for his plight while strongly disagreeing with his repeated kneeling.

Via The Buffalo News:

Simpson generally agrees with the president about Colin Kaepernick and other players who’ve demonstrated during the national anthem before games.
Kaepernick in 2016 started a controversial movement while with Simpson’s hometown 49ers. The quarterback knelt during “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest racial oppression.

Trump has slammed Kaepernick, other athlete protestors and the NFL. The president has called for those players to be fired and for fans to boycott the league for allowing displays of dissent.

“I think Colin made a mistake,” Simpson said. “I really appreciate what he was trying to say. I thought he made a bad choice in attacking the flag.

“I grew up at a time when deacons were in the KKK. I don’t disrespect the Bible because of those guys. The flag shouldn’t be disrespected because of what cops do. The flag represents what we want America to be.”

Simpson went on to say he gave “credit” to Kaepernick for kneeling the first time, “but it was him continuing to do it where he made the biggest mistake.”

Besides their shared negative perceptions about the movement Kaepernick spurred, Simpson says he and Trump disagree on just about everything else.

“Somebody asked me if I’d have voted for him … Probably not, but I only know two of my friends I’d vote to be president,” he said, adding that he used to be friends with the president and attended his 1993 wedding to his second wife, Marla Maples. “Some of my best, best besties I would not vote to be president. That has no bearing on it, you know?”