Colin Kaepernick praised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a politician he finds inspiring, 10 years after the former quarterback famously said he wouldn’t vote in the presidential election because he didn’t want to support “the system of oppression.”
Kaepernick made the comments during an extensive interview with NBC News in which he discussed his political evolution.
In 2016, the same year he began taking a knee to protest police brutality against Black people, Kaepernick created a firestorm when he revealed he didn’t vote in the presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Kaepernick was critical of both candidates, describing them as “proven liars.” He decried Trump as “openly racist” and also criticized Clinton for her use of the term “super predators” when defending the 1994 crime bill signed by her husband, President Bill Clinton.
“You know, I think it would be hypocritical of me to vote,” Kaepernick told reporters following Trump’s first election in November 2016. “I said from the beginning I was against oppression, I was against the system of oppression. I’m not going to show support for that system. And to me, the oppressor isn’t going to allow you to vote your way out of your oppression.”
Kaepernick writes in his new memoir, “The Perilous Fight,” that he has since amended his stance on voting, particularly after the fallout from Trump’s first term.
“The realization coming out of the 2016 election is how significant the implications can be of not voting, even if you don’t fully think this candidate represents you, and I’ve seen that,” Kaepernick told NBC News. “We’ve seen it with the Supreme Court. We’ve seen it with federal judges.”
“Part of trying to seek the best way for us to move forward and have impact is also realizing the moments where the intention of the perspective was right, but the strategy behind it actually wasn’t,” he added.
Kaepernick writes in his book that he voted for the Democratic candidates in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections and that he now recognizes that not participating in electoral politics was “irresponsible.”
As far as current-day politicians he finds inspiring, Kaepernick mentioned Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who has become one of the most recognizable names in politics.
“When we talk about leaders that are moving the needle right now, I think we’re seeing real impact coming out of Mamdani,” Kaepernick said. “It is very refreshing for a lot of people to see someone in a political role saying, ‘I am prioritizing the people’s needs. I’m going to hold people accountable to that, and we are just going to execute and deliver on this over and over again.’”
Mamdani was elected in November 2025, running on an ambitious platform that included expanding universal childcare, freezing the rent in rent-stabilized apartments and opening city-run grocery stores. In an early-August poll by Siena, 69% of New Yorkers had a favorable view of the mayor.
Kaepernick added that Mamdani’s style of governance could inspire more people to be politically engaged.
“Ultimately, I think a lot of those people who are out there that say, ‘Hey, this doesn’t represent me, I’m not voting, or I don’t feel great about the politicians out there,’ it’s because they aren’t seeing people move in that way. The more that we see that come, we’ll see more and more people involved and excited about what is happening in the political sphere.”
