Kerr laments pro-Trump mob
Warriors coach: ‘We’ve decided over the last few years to allow lies to be told’
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr expressed sadness over the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and how the president helped incite what became a violent and volatile day in the country.
Kerr told reporters during a video news conference that he started the day trying to game plan for Wednesday night’s game against the L.A. Clippers at Chase Center but had a difficult time thinking about basketball after seeing on television a mob storm the Capitol building.
“I started the day thinking about how we were going to guard Lou Williams without fouling him,” Kerr said. “Suddenly that didn’t feel quite as important.”
The violent scene, as protesters carrying Trump flags ransacked the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- Calif.) and occupied the Senate floor, brought a sudden halt to the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The mob assembled after President Trump delivered an incendiary speech near the White House, in which he continued to disseminate false claims of a stolen election and urged his supporters to march on Congress.
“We’ve been talking about this for years, but the truth matters in our country,” Kerr said. “If we allow lies to spread and if we enable people in power to lie, you all of a sudden have millions of people doubting an election that was certified in every state.”
“A legitimate election is sud
denly questioned by millions of people, including the people who are leading our country in government,” Kerr said. “Because we’ve decided over the last few years to allow lies to be told. So this is who we are. You reap what you sow.”
Over the last several weeks since November’s presidential election, in which President-elect Biden garnered 81.2 million votes — 7 million more than President Trump — the president and his council have attempted to create doubt around the election with a battery of lawsuits, tweets and conspiracy theories. Those lawsuits failed as states certified their election results.
Also on Wednesday, Georgia held a runoff election that won Democrats control of the Senate. Meanwhile, some Republican leaders continue to support the false claims of President Trump and refuse to accept the election results.
“I wish that people like (senators) Ted Cruz ( RTexas), Marco Rubio ( RFla.) and Josh Hawley (RMo.) had to do pregame media,” Kerr said. “It’d be great for them to answer the question: Are you happy now?”
CURRY, OTHERS REACT >> Warriors star Stephen Curry, who’s never been one to mince words about Trump, found an example from the president, showing he is capable of condemning rioting — if the conditions are right.
“There is literally a tweet for everything. Cat got your tongue today huh?” Curry wrote, quote-tweeting a message from Trump this summer that suggested a minimum of 10 years in prison for any protesters who damage federal buildings.
49ers cornerback Richard Sherman wondered aloud how police would have treated rioters entering the Capitol building if the rioters were Black. “There are certain things my brain could never imagine.... and one of them is black ppl storming a government building and taking things without deadly consequences. But that’s just my brain,” he tweeted.
In a separate post, Sherman referred to the mob as “terrorists,” echoing those who have labeled the Capitol storming an act of domestic terrorism.