AI Summary
5 min readColin Kaepernick: The Perilous Fight — Power, Protest, and the Playbook of Co-Option
In the first Trump administration, a sitting president stood before a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, and called for a private citizen to be fired from his job. The target was Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who had been kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence against Black Americans. "Get that son of a bitch off the field," Trump said. That moment, Kaepernick now argues, was the first public test of presidential overreach into private employment — and the corporate and oligarchic response to it set a template that has only intensified under Trump's second term.
The Oligarchy's Playbook
Kaepernick's new memoir, The Perilous Fight, documents what he calls the "alignment of classes" between political power and corporate ownership. In 2017, NFL owners held a players-owners meeting where, according to Kaepernick, Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots called the kneeling protests "the elephant in the room." Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills, reportedly said the league needed "a black face to help us end this." The owners were explicit: they wanted someone who could subvert the protests from within.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:04) **Introduction and Disclosure** - Ben Meiselas introduces Colin Kaepernick, discloses their personal and professional relationship, and mentions Kaepernick’s new book, *The Perilous Fight*.
- 2 (01:14) **The First Trump Targeting and Presidential Overreach** - The hosts play the infamous clip of Donald Trump saying “get that son of a bitch off the field” and Kaepernick analyzes this as the first test of presidential overreach against a private citizen.
- 3 (03:53) **The Oligarchy and Marching Orders** - Kaepernick explains that Trump’s words were not just ranting but marching orders for an oligarchy, connecting the NFL owner class to a broader right-wing power structure.
- 4 (06:50) **The Co-opting of the Movement: Jay-Z and the NFL** - Kaepernick details how the NFL owners explicitly sought a “black face” to end the kneeling protests, and how Jay-Z filled that role to subvert the movement.
- 5 (11:03) **The Trump Administration’s Attempt to Co-opt Kaepernick** - Ben reveals that after Trump said “get that son of a bitch off the field,” he tried to bring Kaepernick to the White House for a performative “black summit” via Van Jones, which Kaepernick immediately rejected.
- 6 (14:32) **Macklemore and the Open Collusion of the NFL** - The conversation shifts to Macklemore’s revelation that Robert Kraft blocked him from performing at Gillette Stadium, which Kaepernick frames as proof of open collusion by the NFL ownership class.
- 7 (17:16) **Leadership vs. Loser Behavior** - Kaepernick contrasts the leadership qualities of an NFL quarterback with the whining and complaining of Trump, calling it a lack of integrity that distracts from solving real problems.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas presents this exclusive interview with Colin Kaepernick, where he breaks his silence on Donald Trump, the protests, the recent blackballing of Macklemore, and much more. You're not going to want to miss this.
Get Colin's new book The Perilous Fight here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/colin-kaepernick/the-perilous-fight/9781538777879/
Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts:
MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast
Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af
MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial
The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast
Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan
The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show
The Ken Harbaugh Show: https://meidasnews.com/tag/the-ken-harbaugh-show
Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54
On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman
More from this podcast
The MeidasTouch Podcast →