Liberal Supreme Court stalwart Ruth Bader Ginsburg took aim at San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for spearheading a wave of NFL player protests of the national anthem over police brutality and systemic racism, calling their actions “dumb and disrespectful.”
“I think it’s really dumb of them,” Ginsburg told Yahoo News of Kaepernick and other football stars refusing to stand during the “Star Spangled Banner.”
“Would I arrest them for doing it? No,” Ginsburg continued. “I think it’s dumb and disrespectful. I would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning. I think it’s a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn’t lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act.”
Yahoo’s Katie Couric asked if she believed their actions were “within their rights” to exercise.
“Yes,” Ginsburg replied. “If they want to be stupid, there’s no law that should be preventive. If they want to be arrogant, there’s no law that prevents them from that. What I would do is strongly take issue with the point of view that they are expressing when they do that.”
These surprisingly frank comments come just a few months after Ginsburg was criticized for calling Donald Trump a “faker” and saying she didn’t “want to think about” him winning the presidency. Though Ginsburg apologized for being “incautious,” Trump called for her to resign from the nation’s highest court, saying her “mind is shot.”
Reactions to the NFL players demonstrations have mostly broken down on partisan lines, with conservative politicians like Trump accusing the players of disrespecting law enforcement and Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), saying all Americans should have the right to protest.
