Vice President Kamala Harris sidestepped a direct answer on whether athletes should stand for the national anthem in a 2016 interview. The unearthed interview is now facing backlash on social media ahead of the general election.
At the time, Harris was serving as California's attorney general. She spoke with PBS reporter David Nazar about her Senate run, criminal justice reform, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Nazar asked her directly if athletes should stand for the national anthem.
"Should folks stand for the national anthem?" Nazar asked.
Harris didn't give a direct answer. Instead, she talked about Americans’ rights as outlined in the Constitution. She emphasized the importance of freedom of religion and association, but didn’t say whether athletes should stand.
"We are all, and should be, treated as equals," Harris said. "Freedom is part of who we are as a country, and I will defend it to the core."
In 2016, Colin Kaepernick made headlines as the first NFL player to kneel during the anthem, protesting police brutality and racism. His protest began in San Francisco, where Harris was based.
Soon after, athletes like Megan Rapinoe and Bruce Maxwell followed suit, kneeling before games. The movement hit a peak in 2020 after George Floyd’s death, with many athletes kneeling and the NBA painting "Black Lives Matter" on courts.
Conservatives, including former President Trump, harshly criticized these protests. Trump claimed the protests hurt sports, especially the NBA, and called it disrespectful to the country.
Trump also posted on X, formerly Twitter, that kneeling was "a sign of great disrespect" to the flag, saying he would stop watching if he saw an athlete kneeling.
This week, Harris’ interview received renewed attention. OutKick founder Clay Travis called her response "a long jumble of nothingness."
Fox News reached out to Harris’ team for comment on the interview but received no immediate response. Harris has previously defended athletes kneeling, saying in 2017 they should not be "threatened or bullied" for protesting.