Donald Trump has always been proud of the mark he has made on the sports world – his golf handicap, his friendship with Tom Brady and his sterling work as a caddy – and on Monday he took credit for Colin Kaepernick’s (so far) fruitless search for a new team.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback gained widespread attention last season after he chose to protest against racial injustice in the United States by kneeling for the national anthem. Kaepernick opted out of his 49ers contract during the offseason but NFL owners have so far declined to pick up a player who took San Francisco to an appearance at Super Bowl XLVII.

“There was an article today, it was reported, that NFL owners don’t want to pick him up because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump,” the president told a rally in Louisville on Monday. “I said, ‘If I remember that one I’m gonna report it to the people of Kentucky — because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag.’”

Trump may have a point. NFL owners skew conservative – during the last presidential election cycle they gave $8,052,410.00 to Republican efforts compared to $189,610.72 for Democratic causes – and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who Trump picked as his ambassador the UK, chose to sign the veteran Josh McCown over Kaepernick on Monday. ESPN has reported that Kaepernick will stand for the anthem in the upcoming season.

Earlier this week, the film director Spike Lee described the failure of teams to sign Kaepernick as “MAD Fishy To Me, Stinks To The High Heavens” in an Instagram post.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who coached Kaepernick at the 49ers, told NBC Sports Radio on Wednesday that the quarterback still has a lot to offer. “I think he’s an outstanding player,” Harbaugh said. “I think he’s a great competitor who’s proven it in games and has the ability to be not only an NFL starter but a great NFL player. Colin will be just fine. He’ll just keep plugging away, and I think you’ll see he’ll have a great career and be a great quarterback. Win championships.”

Kaepernick has been critical of Trump, who he once called “openly racist”, in the past. The quarterback said he did not vote in the presidential elections.