Many people have reacted to Colin Kaepernick's choice of not standing before games in protest during the singing of the national anthem. One person who is supporting the San Francisco 49ers quarterback is John Legend who took to Twitter and went as far as to call the song, which he has sang multiple times, "weak."
Legend made the comment on Monday, Aug. 29, while Kaepernick was still dominating headlines for the protest he says is for change in the oppression of minorities in the United States.
The 37-year-old Legend supported his stance.
"My vote is for America the Beautiful. Star spangled banner is a weak song anyway. And then you read this..." he tweeted along with a link to an article claiming that an unsung verse in the song celebrates slavery and the murder of African Americans.
That verse is:
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave
Much like with the NFL player, the backlash Legend felt via Twitter was quick and furious. So he decided to respond to those telling him that he was a "weak" person and incorrect about the song.
Legend then wrote a follow-up tweet asking, "For those defending the current anthem, do you really truly love that song? I don't and I'm very good at singing it. Like, one of the best."
But a half-joking tweet couldn't lighten the mood. His wife, Chrissy Teigen, even chimed in to try and calm things down with some laughter by tweeting back, "settle down, you're okay at [singing] it."
As for Kaepernick, the 49ers will play the team's final preseason game tonight and he plans again on not standing.