When Dale Earnhardt Jr. quoted John F. Kennedy amid Donald Trump’s rampant NFL criticism

In 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to Twitter to respond to comments made by then-President Donald Trump criticizing the NFL. Trump had harshly attacked NFL rule changes aimed at reducing head injuries and had called for the firing of players who knelt during the national anthem as a form of protest.

Speaking at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, to support Sen. Luther Strange, Trump suggested that fans should leave the stadium if players knelt during the anthem. The period was a contentious one for the NFL, ignited by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling to protest police brutality against African Americans.

Kaepernick’s actions sparked a movement, with several athletes across different sports joining in. Since his contract with the 49ers ended in 2016, Kaepernick has remained unsigned.

While Donald Trump praised NASCAR figures like Richard Childress and Richard Petty for their criticism of protests during the national anthem, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood his ground.

Trump expressed on X:

"So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won't put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag - they said it loud and clear!"

In a direct response, Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted:

"All Americans R granted rights 2 peaceful protests Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable-JFK"

Earnhardt's tweet, which quickly racked up over 123,000 likes, echoed former President John F. Kennedy's words on the importance of preserving the right to peaceful protests. However, it wasn't the first time Dale Earnhardt Jr. had publicly disagreed with some of Donald Trump's viewpoints.

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Did Dale Earnhardt Jr. take a stand against Donald Trump's immigration policy?

In January 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to a tweet from a fan in Indonesia concerning then-President Trump’s contentious immigration ban targeting seven predominantly Muslim countries. Earnhardt’s reply highlighted his own family’s history of immigrating from Germany in the 1700s to escape religious persecution, saying:

"my fam immigrated from Germany in 1700s escaping religious persecution. America is created by immigrants."

Later, while back at Phoenix International Raceway testing a car for the first time since recovering from a concussion in July 2016, Earnhardt clarified his intentions. He expressed a desire to show compassion to the fan, noting the fan's interest in NASCAR as a common ground. He explained to reporters in Arizona in 2017:

“I felt like I wanted to show him some compassion and I looked at his profile and saw he was a NASCAR fan; I just felt like reaching out. I wasn’t trying to inject into a political conversation — I wasn’t trying to attempt to get a bunch of attention there.”

It remains to be seen whether the two might engage further in any future discussions.