Kaepernick accuses Kraft and NFL owners of colluding against Macklemore

Correction to: Statement by Colin Kaepernick

Previous classification

Condemns — "Kaepernick directly accuses Kraft and NFL stadium owners of colluding to silence Macklemore, drawing an explicit parallel to his own NFL blackballing -- a direct condemnation of Kraft's conduct."

Corrected classification

Defends or excuses — Relative to this case's reference point, Macklemore's MetLife message and conduct, Kaepernick argues the artist should not have been denied the stage for it and warns that the precedent threatens anyone who takes an action the owners dislike. That treats the conduct under scrutiny as acceptable rather than rejecting it.

The original label recorded the target of Kaepernick's criticism, Robert Kraft and the stadium owners, rather than his position on the conduct this case examines; its own rationale called it "a direct condemnation of Kraft's conduct". Materially identical statements in this case are already labelled "Defends or excuses", including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ben Rhodes, both criticising the silencing without separately praising the speech. TheWrap, which reports the fuller remarks, describes Kaepernick as echoing Ocasio-Cortez's concerns. Applying the case's reference point consistently, this is a defence of the conduct under scrutiny. The classification records a response to the case question; it is not a judgement of the speaker.

This corrects an editorial classification.