San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is typically a man of few words. When sideline reporters "speak" to him during games, it's a chore just to get a sentence out of him. However, after hearing Donald Trump's remarks in response to criticism for not mentioning the four U.S. soldiers who were killed in an ambush in Niger, Popovich needed to get some stuff off his chest.
Popovich, who served five years in the U.S. Air Force, calledThe Nation's Dave Zirin and made a simple request: "I want to say something and please just let me talk and please make sure this is on the record."
"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."
After taking a brief pause, Popovich continued. "This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others," he added. "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."
After saying what he needed to say, Popovich said, "Bye, Dave."
