‘It was just a specific thing that happened and me as a young kid a thought popping in my head and boom, decided to tweet it out…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted his support to newly drafted San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa after the former OSU standout and outspoken conservative faced social-media backlash with his second-overall selection.
The president’s congratulatory tweet expressed confidence in Bosa’s being embraced by the team, despite San Francisco’s reputation for being notoriously liberal, and he encouraged the player not to let the leftist echo chamber defeat him.
Congratulations to Nick Bosa on being picked number two in the NFL Draft. You will be a great player for years to come, maybe one of the best. Big Talent! San Francisco will embrace you but most importantly, always stay true to yourself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2019
Some social-media commenters noted the fact that the team had driven out quarterback Colin Kaepernick three years ago—a move that Trump weighed in on as the Nike pitchman’s kneeing controversy drew to a media frenzy during the 2017 season.
Bosa, then 21, issued a now-deleted tweet calling Kaepernick a “clown” in August 2016.
Facing an abysmal record, the team benched Kaepernick partway through the 2016 season due to a decline in play-making.
After the second-stringer walked away from a contract renewal that spring, the 49ers, under new head coach Kyle Shanahan, made clear they would not beg him to return.
Instead, they ultimately invested in Tom Brady‘s understudy, Jimmy Garoppolo, as their likely franchise call-signaler of the future.
Kaepernick, who received no interest from other teams while a free agent, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, which the two parties recently settled for an undisclosed amount.
As projections gave strong indications that Bosa would go second in the draft to Heisman-winning multisport phenom Kyler Murray, Bosa began scrubbing Twitter of his more “insensitive” posts.
According to left-leaning sports network ESPN, Bosa expressed his contrition about the 2016 Kaepernick tweet on Friday at his introductory news conference.
Bosa said the tweet was never intended to attack the social-justice movement that the quarterback was trying to call attention to by taking a knee during the national anthem.
“It’s not like I’m saying his stance and what he was doing, that’s not what I was calling or talking about at all,” Bosa said.
“It was just a specific thing that happened and me as a young kid a thought popping in my head and boom, decided to tweet it out. Bad decision. I respect what he’s done. If it empowers anybody then he’s doing a good thing. So, I apologize for that.”
Whether Bosa can sufficiently appease his 49ers teammates and fan base to overcome the criticisms has yet to be seen.
As the NFL has struggled to hold players accountable in the past for serious criminal offenses—such as domestic abuse—and has openly endorsed radical left-wing politics in its financial support of the Players Coalition, many conservative fans already have abandoned the league.
But even race-baiting ex-ESPN commentator Jemele Hill was forced to backpedal on a tweet she made referring to Bosa as a “white nationalist” when other users rallied to his defense.
Again, point to the tweet where I said he wasn’t a great pick (spoiler alert: you can’t). That being said, I don’t have to like him. And it’s funny how I’m getting all these tweets about how his views don’t matter … where was that energy with Colin Kaepernick? https://t.co/0W2s6Emtlq
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2019