Trump's latest comments on Colin Kaepernick were surprising, but he still used talking points championed by those who don't believe the QB deserves another chance

• President Donald Trump has long vilified athletes for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality.
• Colin Kaepernick — who crafted the gesture in 2016 when he played for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers — has taken the brunt of Trump's and his allies' criticism that kneeling is disrespectful to the US flag.
• This week, Trump seemingly reversed course on the quarterback by saying he would "absolutely" support a second shot for Kaepernick in the NFL.
• But even in his comments Wednesday, Trump used talking points championed by those who don't believe the QB — and other athletes who kneel — deserve to play professionally.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump reversed course on Colin Kaepernick.

Or did he?

In an interview, the president said that he would "absolutely" support a second shot in the NFL for the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback. The comments appeared to be a complete departure from Trump's long-held — and loudly touted — stance that the act of kneeling in protest of police brutality during the national anthem is disrespectful to the US flag and members of the military defending the country.

Though Kaepernick insisted from the beginning that he protested to shine a light on the disproportionate police killings of Black people in America, the president once even referred to players who chose to kneel as "sons of b------" who deserved to lose their jobs.

Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2016 when he first crafted the kneeling gesture and was subsequently blackballed from the league. The quarterback and his supporters argued that Kaepernick's inability to find his way onto an NFL roster was an act of collusion by NFL franchise owners — many of whom supported Trump's campaign with political donations. Kaepernick and former 49ers teammate Eric Reid — who also kneeled — even settled with the NFL after suing the league on those grounds.

Trump and his allies, meanwhile, have long insisted that it was Kaepernick's playing ability — not his social activism — that caused his lack of employment. And while the president's claims this week that he "would love to see [Kaepernick] get another shot" in the NFL were undoubtedly shocking, his adherence to the excuse that Kaepernick simply wasn't talented enough to compete at the professional level was no surprise.

"If he deserves it, he should," Trump told Scott Thuman, chief political correspondent for Sinclair, regarding Kaepernick's potential return to the league. "If he has the playing ability. He started off great, and then he didn't end up very great in terms of a player. He was terrific in his rookie year. I think he was very good in his second year. And then something happened."

"So his playing wasn't up to snuff," Trump added. "The answer is absolutely, I would. As far as kneeling, I would love to see him get another shot. But, obviously, he has to be able to play well. If he can't play well, I think it would be very unfair."

The consensus amongst those steeped in the NFL world is that, back in 2016, Kaepernick likely had the talent to compete for a starting position and was undoubtedly good enough to find a roster spot as a back-up quarterback.

The president may have made Wednesday's comments in response to recent polling on the issue of kneeling, which has earned a favorable uptick in the court of public opinion after the death of George Floyd prompted a nationwide reckoning with race relations in America. Trump also could have been attempting to distract the public from his former National Security Advisor's claims that the president asked the Chinese government for help in his reelection.

But regardless of Trump's motives, his insistence that the NFL and its franchise owners are devoid of any blame is telling. To state that Kaepernick may be worthy of another chance without acknowledging that team owners were complicit in keeping him off the field is failing to paint an honest picture of the quarterback's plight.

Further, in that same interview with Thuman on Wednesday, Trump criticized the NFL after league commissioner Roger Goodell apologized for the league's previous stance against players who kneel.

"You have to show respect," Trump said. "There are plenty of places and plenty of things you can protest. I was very disappointed in the NFL when they came out with a statement."

Likewise, Trump took issue with the US Soccer Federation when it recently repealed its ban on players kneeling during the national anthem.

"I was very disappointed in US Soccer," the president added. "We support US Soccer. And now they go out, and they say that you can do whatever you want. We have to show respect for our flag and for our national anthem."

Trump's recent comments function less as an admission of his misjudgment of Kaepernick than as a buffer with which to distance himself from opinions that are becoming increasingly obsolete in the current moment. And to protect the NFL owners — many of whom are his personal friends — from indictment just further illustrates his misunderstanding of the issue at hand.

Kaepernick is not newly deserving of a job in the NFL. Nationalistic ideology and racism — much of which the president broadcast on his platforms — contribute to Kaepernick's continued absence from a roster in the league. Unless Trump acknowledges this fact, his stance on the quarterback-turned-activist does not qualify as a reversal, nor does it constitute support; instead, its just more of the same rhetoric that resulted in Kaepernick's blacklisting in the first place.

• Read more:
• 14 professional athletes who have already said they will kneel during the national anthem
• Trump says he won't watch the NFL or US Soccer if players kneel during the national anthem
• Maya Moore already paved the way for athletes like Kyrie Irving who are 'willing to give up everything' for social justice reform
• Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll says he regrets not signing Colin Kaepernick in 2017