Beto O'Rourke -- the congressman who went viral defending NFL kneelers -- says he's totally fine with people boycotting Nike ... because it's another form of nonviolent protest.
Beto is currently in a very tight senate race in Texas against incumbent Ted Cruz -- and his speech on the NFL protesters has become a major issue between the two candidates.
So, when we saw O'Rourke in D.C. on Friday -- we had to ask about the outrage over Nike's new ad featuring Colin Kaepernick ... which inspired some people to burn their shoes and cut Swooshes out of their socks.