Trump adds Curry to his list of taunts
It seems that President Trump just wants to pick fights. With NATO. The United Nations. North Korea. Mitch McConnell. John McCain. And now Stephen Curry.
Yep, that’s right. The president of the United States is doing so well on foreign relations, health care, tax reform and his border wall that he apparently has enough time on his hands to take on the stars and owners of the NBA and the NFL.
And the Constitution. Through intimidation, Trump repeatedly tries to silence his critics and their free speech rights. The commander in chief has become the bully in chief, and there seems to be no end to his divisive schoolyard behavior.
His latest unchecked taunting began at a political rally Friday night in Alabama, where he called for the firing of NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.
On Saturday, he moved from football to basketball, withdrawing the traditional White House invitation to the champion Golden State Warriors because Curry didn’t want to go.
The team was about to vote on whether to attend. Rather than face rejection as seemed likely, Trump struck first, on Twitter of course, telling the Warriors that they were no longer welcome.
He has approached this war with the sports stars just as he has foreign relations and national policy making — by trying to pound his opponents into submission.
While that worked for him in his business dealings, when it was only his reputation on the line, the stakes are much higher now that he is president and represents all of us.
Unfortunately, he just doesn’t get that.
He doesn’t seem to understand why players in these two leagues — roughly 70 percent of whom are African-American — would be troubled by police beatings of black men or by Trump’s failure to appropriately denounce the bigotry witnessed in Charlottesville.
Trump simplistically portrays the players’ kneeling during the anthem as disrespecting the flag. He fails to acknowledge that the right to conduct these peaceful protests is protected by our Constitution, and that they represent widespread underlying discontent.
The recent politicization of sports began last year when then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the anthem. A small number of other players began to take up the cause.
Then, last weekend, Trump tried to shut down the public dissent. Instead, he inflamed it. Players, coaches and even owners pushed back, overwhelmingly defending the players’ right to speak out.
People in positions of power, be they presidents or coaches, must be able to deal with criticism, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told Sports Illustrated.
“People are going to take shots at you and it’s incumbent upon you to absorb those shots. Maybe you respond diplomatically, but you maintain a level of respect and dignity. What you can’t do is just angrily lash out.”
That’s sage advice. The question is whether the president will learn the lesson.