Colin Kaepernick Explains Why He Chose Not to Vote During the Presidential Election

Colin Kaepernick tells reporters that he didn’t vote during the presidential election because he didn’t like any of the candidates.

Colin Kaepernick stands on the sideline during a 49ers game.
USA Today Sports

Image via USA TODAY Sports/Kelvin Kuo

Colin Kaepernick stands on the sideline during a 49ers game.

On ESPN First Take on Wednesday morning, Stephen A. Smith went off on Colin Kaepernick for making the decision not to vote during the 2016 presidential election. Smith referred to Kaepernick as a "flaming hypocrite" and said that he thinks it’s "shameful" that the 49ers quarterback didn’t vote in light of the protesting he’s done throughout the course of the current NFL season. "Him of all people, because of the position he took, because of the attention he brought to the issues—the fact that you don’t even have the decency to go to the polls and activate yourself, as our president said, is a damn shame," Smith said.

Late Wednesday, Kaepernick spoke with reporters during a conference call from Arizona where the 49ers are gearing up for a game against the Cardinals, and he explained why he chose not to vote. He said that he didn’t approve of any of the candidates in the presidential race, which is why he didn’t spend much time worrying about who was going to win. He also said that he "really didn’t pay too close of attention" to the outcome of the election on Tuesday night.

"I’ve been very disconnected from the systematic oppression as a whole," he said. "So for me, it’s another face that’s going to be the face of that system of oppression. And to me, it didn’t really matter who went in there. The system remains intact that oppresses people of color."

As ESPN pointed out, the fact that Kaepernick didn’t vote probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Back in September, he was very vocal about how he didn’t think that either of the two main candidates was qualified for the job of President of the United States of America. "To me, it was embarrassing to watch that these are our two candidates," he said following the first presidential debate. "Both are proven liars, and it almost seems like they’re trying to debate who is less racist, and at this point, I was talking to one of my friends who goes, 'You have to pick the lesser of the two evils, but in the end, it’s still evil.'"

Kaepernick is obviously free to vote or not vote, but that probably isn’t going to stop him from facing more criticism in the coming days.

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