Nike has reportedly nixed the release of a patriotic sneaker featuring an image of the Betsy Ross flag on the heel because ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick found the symbol to be offensive.
Nike is yanking a sneaker featuring the "Betsy Ross flag" after Colin Kaepernick said he and others consider the symbol to be offensive https://t.co/eKVtPM6oTA
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 1, 2019
Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49er who became infamous for kneeling during the National Anthem and for wearing socks depicting police officers as pigs, told Nike that he felt the use of the Betsy Ross flag was offensive and carried slavery connotations, the Wall Street Journal reported.
I will no longer be supporting NIKE.
Colin Kaepernick is a cop-hater, who wears socks depicting police as pigs.
The NIKE brand is now forever tarnished as being anti-police. #NIKE #ColinKaepernick pic.twitter.com/NHoZAItJ8a
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 4, 2018
Citing sources familiar to the matter, the Journal reported: “After images of the shoe were posted online, Mr. Kaepernick, a Nike endorser, reached out to company officials saying that he and others felt the Betsy Ross flag is an offensive symbol because of its connection to an era of slavery.”
A Nike spokeswoman told the Journal: “Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured the old version of the American flag.”
The Air Max 1 USA sneaker was slated to be released on July 1 at the cost of $140 and had already been sent to retailers when Nike decided to pull them, according to the Journal.
Kaepernick, an SJW whose ostentatious kneeling antics during the National Anthem turned every NFL game into a racially divisive battleground, became the face of Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign in September of 2018, leading Nike’s stock to initially fall more than three percent, before online sales increased.
The failed quarterback’s insipid, ahistorical musings about the American flag apparently impressed the corporate bigwigs at Nike.
Most conservatives, like former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, however, were appalled by Nike’s decision to yank the patriotic sneaker mere days before the 4th of July.
America and the promise made in the Declaration of Independence gave birth to the greatest nation on the planet. But Kaepernick and the corporate PC police are embarrassed by the flag and that promise. Pathetic. Stand for America and the flag! #MAGA #KAG https://t.co/9zlb7WzNWY
— Kimberly Guilfoyle (@kimguilfoyle) July 2, 2019
"They're so woke they'd cancel a shoe line a couple days before the Fourth of July because it has the American flag on it" sounds like a parody of an exaggeration of a thing you'd make up to highlight how stupidly woke a company is.
And yet https://t.co/2FHjXh4vpf
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) July 2, 2019
My home of #Philadelphia is the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Congress Hall, the Betsy Ross House…the most historic square mile in the country. With a call, @nike and @Kaepernick7 disown it. https://t.co/DxHuaCaw5G
— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) July 2, 2019
Are you kidding me, @Nike?
Three days before the Fourth of July? https://t.co/WyjEZjawkG
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) July 1, 2019
President Trump, who has repeatedly blasted NFL players for kneeling during the National anthem, has not yet weighed in on Nike’s decision to nix the Betsy Ross sneaker.