Quarterback Colin Kaepernick will make his first appearance on the football field since he refused to stand last week during the national anthem to protest “a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

Tonight, Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers will play in San Diego at a preseason game celebrating the military. The controversial quarterback has said he will not stand for the anthem at the game on Thursday night.

One U.S. congressmen from the San Diego area had a message for Kaepernick:

“He probably fits in very well in San Francisco,” Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter said in an interview on the ESPN/ABC podcast, “Capital Games.” “That might be one of the reasons that he’s able to do this or feel confident about it.” “A city like San Diego is too patriotic,” said Hunter, adding that he believes Kaepernick would be out of a job if he played for the Chargers. “I don’t think we’d have a player like him, frankly, I think he’d be booed out or the owners would be forced to not accept someone like him,” he said.

Hunter is a military veteran who represents East County, San Diego. He also serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

“I think you can combat what Kaepernick’s doing with a show of force on the other side,” said Hunter. “That’s saying, ‘Hey, we respect the flag because it stands for something that’s constant, and that’s the sacrifices and what the American military has done for this country.’”

Kaepernick was recently photographed wearing socks that depict police officers as pigs, but insisted he was not making a statement about all police officers, only those who are “rogue.”