No NBA coach has been more vocal about his disdain for Donald Trump than Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. In some of his more notable critiques of the president, Popovich has discussed Trump in the wake of the Women’s March, said that Trump is “dangerous to our institutions and what we all stand for and what we expect the country to be,” and called the United States during the era of Trump “an embarrassment to the world.”
On Monday, though, Popovich offered his most pointed criticism of Trump yet. Citing his disdain for Trump’s false allegations about Barack Obama never calling the families of fallen members of the military, Popovich made it a point to call Dave Zirin of The Nation so he could vent his anger.
According to Zirin, Popovich, a former member of the United States Air Force, said “I want to say something and please just let me talk and please make sure this is on the record.” Zirin obliged, and then Popovich went off.
“I’ve been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this President had said, and his approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just a never ending divisiveness,” Popovich said. “But his comments today about those who have lost loved ones in times of war and his lies that previous presidents Obama and Bush never contacted their families, is so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.”
Since he did not have the words to discuss this lie in depth, Popovich turned his attention to Trump himself. Popovich called Trump a “soulless coward” who is “unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically” to be the President of the United States.
This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner–and to lie about how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers–is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.
Once he was finished venting, Zirin reports that Popovich said goodbye and hung up his telephone.
Popovich is not one to ever stick to sports, but even by his standards, he really went in on the president. It’s a pointed critique from someone who not only served in the military, but has no reservations about speaking poignantly on societal issues, especially with regards to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
(Via The Nation)
