San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has a long history of blasting President Donald Trump.
In the wake of the last week’s worth of unrest following the death of George Floyd while in police custody, Pop is steaming mad.
Popovich: Trump is ‘deranged,’ doesn’t care about Americans
Speaking with Dave Zirin of The Nation, Popovich unloaded on Trump for a lack of leadership during this time of upheaval and crisis in America.
“It’s unbelievable. If Trump had a brain, even if it was 99 percent cynical, he would come out and say something to unify people,” Popovich told Zirin during a phone call. “But he doesn’t care about bringing people together. Even now. That’s how deranged he is. It’s all about him. It’s all about what benefits him personally. It’s never about the greater good. And that’s all he’s ever been.”
Popovich continued, sharing what he feels could have been done to avoid some of the unrest that’s going on right now.
“It’s so clear what needs to be done. We need a president to come out and say simply that ‘black lives matter.’ Just say those three words. But he won’t and he can’t. He can’t because it’s more important to him to mollify the small group of followers who validate his insanity. But it’s more than just Trump. The system has to change. I’ll do whatever I can do to help, because that’s what leaders do. But he can’t do anything to put us on a positive path, because he’s not a leader.”
Speaking to the unrest itself, Popovich shared that it’s up to “white Americans” to effectuate real change.
“The thing that strikes me is that we all see this police violence and racism, and we’ve seen it all before, but nothing changes. That’s why these protests have been so explosive. But without leadership and an understanding of what the problem is, there will never be change. And white Americans have avoided reckoning with this problem forever, because it’s been our privilege to be able to avoid it. That also has to change.”
In the week following the death of George Floyd, Americans have protested en masse. Some protests have been peaceful. Others have not, and many athletes have spoken out against the violence and looting that’s stemmed from those. The one thing most seem to agree on is that change must happen. How to do it? Well, that’s another matter entirely.