Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (CA) joined the popular radio show The Breakfast Club on Friday and claimed the outrage surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem was “not a real thing” and taken on by “Russian bots.”

“Remember the whole, the heat that ended up around the bend the knee and Colin Kaepernick,” Harris asked the hosts.

Harris then blamed the “heat” on “Russian bots.”

“Many smart people have said it actually was not a thing,” Harris claimed. “The Russian bots are taking that on.”

Harris’ comments on Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem come days after Nike decided to pull their America-themed 4th of July sneakers which featured the “Betsy Ross” flag, due to Kaepernick’s concern that the flag was offensive.

Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem, a political protest that quickly garnered backlash against the sport. Kaepernick also wore socks depicting police as pigs at team practices and sported T-shirts featuring Cuban communist dictator Fidel Castro.

A CBS News poll from February found that Americans are split over whether players should stand in honor of the national anthem. Breitbart News’ Warner Todd Huston reported, “Respondents were evenly split, with 50 percent saying players should stand for the anthem and 50 percent saying they should not be forced to do so.”

Kaepernick’s actions, both on and off the field, have drawn immense criticism from President Donald Trump over the last few years.

In October of 2017, Trump said that the NFL should have suspended Colin Kaepernick when he first decided to sit out for the national anthem.

“Frankly the NFL should have suspended him for one game and he would have never done it again,” Trump stated.

“I will tell you cannot disrespect our country, our flag, our anthem,” he added. “You cannot do that.”

After Kaepernick was featured in a Nike commercial last Fall, Trump took to Twitter to question the motives of Nike.

What was Nike thinking? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2018

“What was Nike thinking?” Trump wrote.

Trump also criticized Nike for their promotion of Kaepernick during an interview with Fox and Friends.

“I don’t like what Nike did. I don’t think it was appropriate what they did,” Trump said. “I honor the flag. I honor our national anthem, and most of the people in our country feel the same way.”

EXCLUSIVE: @POTUS shares his message with @PeteHegseth ahead of his rally in Montana pic.twitter.com/wKXbJloWWH — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) September 7, 2018