Every time he speaks, it seems President Trump says something that is outright, provably false — a lie, if you will. The latest came in a Rose Garden press conference Monday where, when asked about two fallen American soldiers in Niger, he said he would call and “If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls — a lot of them didn’t make calls — I like to make calls when it’s appropriate.” It didn’t take long for representatives from the former Obama administration — as well as the most recent Bush administration — to come out and say Trump was flat-out wrong, noting the numerous calls, letters, visits to troops at the hospital and more (all of which is easily verified). Even by the end of the same press conference, when pressed by reporters, Trump back pedaled saying maybe Obama did make calls, “I don’t know. That’s what I was told.”
That wasn’t near good enough for Air Force Academy graduate, frequent Trump critic, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. He called up one of the people who understands the intersection of sports and politics, Dave Zirin of The Nation, and ranted.
“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 are so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.
“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 better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.”
Popovich is a thoughtful man who highly prizes intellectual curiosity — he believes he needs to be worldly and understand it better just to properly lead a basketball team. If one is going to lead a nation — or, ostensibly, the world — one has to want to know about it, learn about it, respect its differences. Popovich has thought through things before he speaks. Trump does none of that, he goes by his gut and has no filter, and it makes him sort of Bizzaro Popovich. Which sets the Spurs’ coach off.
We can expect more rants from Pop, Steve Kerr, NBA players and a host of others over the course of the season. NBA players have been emboldened by Adam Silver and the league to speak out, and they will, knowing that with the NBA’s younger, more urban, and more diverse and global fanbase (compared to the NFL) they will not face much if any backlash.
