I was referring to Kaepernick's initial gesture / comments of sitting down during the anthem. Was I personally offended? No - and I'm an Army brat. My dad served in the military for 35 years. I knew he ed up the moment he did it. No matter what his intention or cause was. He automatically drew negative attention for his choice. Whenever someone challenges the ideals of the flag or nationalism, they are going to run up against opposition. No if's, and's or but's about it. Done deal. There are some things that invite conflict and messing with American nationalism is one of them.
After the media picked up on him sitting during the anthem the first time, Kaepernick admitted it wasn't any sort of plan to bring awareness to the plight of the oppressed. It was a reaction to their plight. A defiance. A big middle finger to the United States, the anthem and to the flag. That was strike two.
He understood pretty quickly that his actions were taken negatively, pissed off some his teammates and drew attention to himself. After receiving flack, he quickly went into PR correction mode and started to talk about "bringing awareness". He had to explain himself and his intentions to his own teammates.
Strike 3? Kaepernick wore a pair of socks depicting policemen as pigs. Not too long after that, he wore a t-shirt with Fidel Castro and Malcom X on it. So, you have a guy in full militant mode now. Anti-police, pro-communist dictator, trying to bring awareness to his cause. He failed on so many levels its comical. If anyone was divisive it was him. He's the poster boy, protagonist of everything we are seeing now. Some people shut him and whatever message he was trying to send down. They aren't listening.
That brings us to Trump. An ego-maniacal narcissist who feeds on the emotions of our country's least common denominators. Whenever he gets criticism or heat, he goes back to doing what he knows best. Bull propaganda. He's not winning over anyone new, he's just feeling better about himself by seeing crowds cheer for him. Its nothing but cheap, empty rhetoric.