Did Colin Kaepernick say he will leave for Russia if not respected properly in the United States? No, that's not true: This first appeared on a website with a satire disclaimer that publishes made-up content. There is no public or credible evidence to support this statement about Kaepernick.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on September 10, 2024. It said:
Colin Kaepernick Says He'll Leave for Russia If He Doesn't Get the Respect He Deserves in the U.S.
- This is SATIRE
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Sept. 19 17:07:40 2024 UTC)
In the comments, the author of this post linked to an Esspots.com article (archived here) titled, "Colin Kaepernick Says He'll Leave for Russia If He Doesn't Get the Respect He Deserves in the U.S." Under the headline are two gray tags marked "SATIRE," as seen below.
(Source: Esspots.com screenshot taken on Fri Sept 20 at 00:29:00 2024 UTC)
The About Us page (archived here) of the Esspots website describes itself as all about "satirical news and commentary":
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America.
The description (archived here) underneath the disclaimer tab on the Esspots website reads, in part:
Welcome to Esspots.com, a website that specializes in satire, parody, and humor. Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real. All of the articles, stories, and commentary found on Esspots.com are entirely fictitious and created for the purpose of entertainment only.
The post on Facebook did not say the article is from a site that states that "nothing on this website is real."
The article on the Esspots website did not cite any credible sources that could confirm its claim. A keyword search on Google News also came up empty (archived here).
SpaceXMania.com, which Esspots identifies as its parent, is also a satire website. It sees its mission (archived here) as "the freshest fake news," along with "some sassy analysis, and a good dose of satire ..."
Additional Lead Stories fact checks mentioning the Esspots website can be read here; fact checks that address claims tied to SpaceXMania can be found here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims about civil rights activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick can be read here.
