CLAIM: Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick was praying when he took a knee during the playing of the national anthem in 2016.

VERDICT: False. Colin Kaepernick himself has spent six years speaking about his motivations for taking a knee and never once claimed he was doing so to observe his religion.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of ABC’s extreme left-wing daytime talk show, The View, purported comedienne Joy Behar made the absurd claim that ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was “thrown off the team” for praying on the sidelines when he took a knee during the national anthem.

Behar’s fact-free proclamation came as the panel discussed the recent Supreme Court decisionthat ruled that a Washington high school coach was improperly punished for praying on the field during high school football games.

Colin Kaepernick was a second-string quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers when during the entirety of the 2016 season, he took a knee during the playing of the national anthem in protest against the country. The following season he turned free agent, but no team signed him, and he has been on the sidelines ever since.
But, although Kaepernick has never mentioned “praying” and has always maintained his actions were a political protest, Behar is suddenly claiming Kaepernick was “praying.” So his actions should be covered by the U.S. Constitution.

During the June 28 broadcast, Behar wondered, “I’d like to know if it would apply to Colin Kaepernick, for example?”

She went on to wholly mischaracterize Kaepernick’s actions, saying, “He takes a knee — I don’t know if this is really legal or any of what I’m saying — but it seems to me like the guy takes a knee and he gets thrown off the team. But he could be praying, too, praying, you know, that these people would leave him alone. I don’t know what he’s praying for. But he could be praying. Who knows what you’re doing when you take a knee. Doesn’t that look like prayer to you? Suddenly it’s illegal for him but it’s okay for this guy.”