Ben Ferguson Schools CNN on Why Many Offended by Kaepernick's Kneeling

September 8th, 2018 5:18 PM

On CNN's New Day Saturday, right-leaning CNN contributor Ben Ferguson again demonstrated why he is one of the few bright spots on the otherwise liberal news network as he explained to apparently befuddled host Christi Paul why it is that many Americans are offended by the NFL kneeling campaign inspired by ex-player Colin Kaepernick.

During the segment in which the CNN host accepted the liberal spin that kneeling during the National Anthem had a "very valid" aim of drawing attention to "systemic racism and police brutality," at one point she seemed confused about why people perceive the protests negatively as she posed:

People complain, you know, if somebody marches in the street -- they complain if they rally. This protest is not about the flag. Why is it that people cannot seem to separate the focus of this protest about police brutality and African-Americans and how they are treated with patriotism?

Ferguson recalled for viewers that about the time Kaepernick began his kneeling campaign -- which started with him simply refusing to stand for the anthem -- Kaepernick was seen wearing anti-cop socks depicting police officers as pigs, and he also wore a pro-Fidel Castro t-shirt publicly.

In spite of reports that just over 25 percent of police shooting victims are black -- which is not disproportionate when crime patterns are taken into account -- Paul was unconvinced as she followed up: "Okay, so what could have been done differently to keep the very valid focus and argument of this whole protest in play? What could have happened differently?