Founder of Nike, Woke Sportswear Company, Donates to Republican Gubernatorial Candidate

According to Fox News, Nike co-founder Phil Knight has donated $1 million to the Republican candidate for Governor in Oregon, Christine Drazan.

Oregon hasn't had a Republican governor in decades, and coincidentally in that time frame the state has seen quality of life in its signature city rapidly decline.

Knight had previously donated to an Independent candidate, but moved over to Drazan after the first candidate dropped out of the race.

The Democratic candidate, Tina Kotec, has been trailing in the polls, despite her party's dominance in Oregon politics.

But the real story here is that Nike's chairman emeritus is supporting a Republican candidate, in direct repudiation to his company's extensive progressive activism.

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO - JULY 07: Phil Knight, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Nike, Inc., attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 07, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho. The world's most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, and technology will converge at the Sun Valley Resort this week for the exclusive conference. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Nike embraced Colin Kaepernick's political posturing, creating an entire ad campaign with the slogan "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."

No one at Nike or in the media or ad industries who lavished praise on the company seemed to be aware of the profound absurdity of saying Kaepernick had "sacrificed" anything while paying him millions of dollars per year plus royalties:

But that remarkable contradiction exemplifies how gullible the modern left has become; Nike made Kaepernick incredibly wealthy, profiting off his hated America while describing him as some kind of rebel for an audience of woke millennials.

The company has engaged in other woke virtue signaling, changing their slogan to "For once, Don't Do It" after the death of George Floyd and releasing an ad stating that no one should say there isn't a racism problem in America.

While calling out problems in America racism, Nike restated its commitment to China, where the CCP is currently accused of committing genocide against the Uyghur Muslim population, saying that it's a "brand that is of China."

Nike has generally moved in lockstep with the tide of left wing Current Thingism politics.

Now it's co-founder is donating to a Republican.

Maybe he's tired of the horrifying rise in crime in Portland, where murder rates jumped 207% from 2019-2021 thanks in part to lax progressive policies.

Not to mention that many reports have claimed police there are overwhelmed thanks in part to defunding the police efforts. Those efforts are, of course, spearheaded by those who share Nike's ideology.

Maybe Knight has realized that the left is focused on empty buzzwords, obsessed with radical gender ideology, and that decades of Democratic leadership has obviously failed in his state.

Whatever the reason, it's encouraging and surprising that even Phil Knight is willing to acknowledge its time to move on from what we know doesn't work.