Former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick has a memoir, _The Perilous Fight,_ releasing on the horizon, and in it he reveals that he has changed his mind about how he feels about voting.
Back in 2016, when Kaepernick made the controversial decision to kneel during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against people of color, he refrained from voting in that year’s presidential election between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
“You know, I think it would be hypocritical of me to vote,” Kaepernick said in November 2016, [via Outkick.](https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/colin-kaepernick-changes-stance-voting-zohran-mamdani-inspires-him) “I said from the beginning I was against oppression; I was against the system of oppression. I’m not going to show support for that system. And to me, the oppressor isn’t going to allow you to vote your way out of your oppression.”
However, in _The Perilous Fight,_ Kaepernick writes that his stance was “irresponsible.”
“The realization coming out of the 2016 election is how significant the implications can be of not voting, even if you don’t fully think this candidate represents you, and I’ve seen that,” the former NFC Champion told NBC News. “We’ve seen it with the Supreme Court. We’ve seen it with federal judges.”
He added, “Part of trying to seek the best way for us to move forward and have impact is also realizing the moments where the intention of the perspective was right, but the strategy behind it actually wasn’t.”
“I think we’re seeing real impact coming out of Mamdani”
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Kaepernick revealed that he voted for the Democratic candidates in both the 2020 and 2024 elections, and which current politician he finds inspiring.
“When we talk about leaders that are moving the needle right now, I think we’re seeing real impact coming out of Mamdani,” he told NBC.
“It is very refreshing for a lot of people to see someone in a political role saying, ‘I am prioritizing the people’s needs. I’m going to hold people accountable to that, and we are just going to execute and deliver on this over and over again.’”
Kaepernick is hopeful that Mamdani inspires a new wave of people to get involved in politics.
“Ultimately, I think a lot of those people who are out there that say, ‘Hey, this doesn’t represent me, I’m not voting, or I don’t feel great about the politicians out there,’ it’s because they aren’t seeing people move in that way. The more that we see that come, we’ll see more and more people involved and excited about what is happening in the political sphere.”