Colin Kaepernick was this year’s recipient of Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, which he accepted in person from surprise presenter Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on Tuesday night.
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Prior to the ceremony, Sports Illustrated writer Michael Rosenberg praised Kaepernick for making “his truth known” with his controversial national anthem protests. Explaining the award, Rosenberg wrote, “Each year SI and the Ali family honor a figure who embodies the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy and has used sports as a platform for changing the world.”
This sentiment was reflected in the short introductory speech given by Knowles-Carter, who said the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback “took action with no fear of consequence or repercussion, only hope to change the world for the better.”
“With or without the NFL’s platform, I will continue to work for the people, because my platform is the people,” Kaepernick promised.
Several hours later, political commentator Tomi Lahren weighed in on the award with a disparaging tweet.
“Police-hating Beyoncé presents police and America-hating Kappy with a ‘legacy’ award. This is how far we’ve fallen. Wow,” she wrote.
Police-hating Beyoncé presents police and America-hating Kappy with a “legacy” award. This is how far we’ve fallen. Wow. pic.twitter.com/KIe6IqEQey
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) December 6, 2017
Both Kaepernick and Knowles-Carter have gone great lengths to explain that they neither hate the military nor the police, both praising members of the respective institutions.
Despite this, Lahren has dedicated over a year to criticizing Kaepernick for his decision to protest.
Lahren was very publicly fired from TheBlaze, the news outlet where she gained a following for, among other things, speaking about Kaepernick, in March. After settling a legal dispute with her formal employer, she went on to work for Fox News.
Among her multiple roles, Lahren once appeared on the now-canceled “Fox News Specialists,” where guests are invited to use their “specialty” to speak on current events. Though specialties ranged anywhere from entrepreneurship to songwriting, Lahren chose “melting snowflakes” as hers. It was a head-scratcher for several viewers.
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