Since Donald Trump announced his run for president, Kareem Adul-Jabbar has not been shy about his feelings on this candidate. For example, back in September, Abdul-Jabbar wrote an article for The Washington Post commenting on the differences between Trump and Bernie Sanders, noting where Sanders is “thoughtful and intelligent,” Trump is “arrogant to criticism and impervious to feeling the need to have any actual policies.” It therefore comes as no surprise that Abdul-Jabbar has written another article, this time for Time Magazine, on Trump’s latest attack on Muslims.
Another reason why Abdul-Jabbar’s newest article comes as no surprise is that Abdul-Jabbar is one of a handful of legendary athletes who follow the Muslim faith. As you may know, the other legends include Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Shaquille O’Neal, to name a few. As you may also know by now, President Barack Obama commented in his prime-time speech on Dec. 6, that Muslim-Americans are our friends, neighbors, co-workers and sports-heroes. Trump responded by tweeting:
Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
Though Trump was ridiculed by the press and online bloggers, who were showing pictures of Trump standing with Muslim athletes, Abdul-Jabbar noted:
“What makes [Trump’s] statement even more insidious is the suggestion that, even if there were no Muslim sports heroes, Muslims would somehow be lesser people, less worthy. This cruel and dim-witted thinking is not the stuff presidents are made of.“
His Time Magazine article, however, does not focus solely on Trump’s ignorant tweet, nor does it only focus on Trump’s controversial remarks on Muslims, instead, Abdul-Jabbar focused on how Trump is a terrorist who we should strongly be concerned with.
Abdul-Jabbar stated that Trump is apart of the “the terrorist campaign against American ideals” that is leading to rampant fear, increase of hate crimes, and a willingness by some Americans to,
“trade in the sacred beliefs that define America for some vague promises of security from the very people who are spreading the terror.”
In an eloquent comparison, Abdul-Jabbar explained how Trump is a terrorist by the dictionary definition and, as a result, “Trump is ISIS’s greatest triumph.” Abdul-Jabbar argued that Trump is “doing ISIS’s job” because he does not offer “specific and realistic policies,” instead Trump is preying on public fear.
Trump, explained Abdul-Jabbar, is also a terrorist by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s definition. The FBI defines terrorism as,
“‘the unlawful use or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.“
Trump is not necessarily committing atrocious acts of violence, Abdul-Jabbar points out, but Trump is:
“exploiting such acts of violence to create terror here to coerce support…Trump’s irresponsible, inflammatory rhetoric and deliberate propagation of misinformation have created a frightened and hostile atmosphere that could embolden people to violence.”
Abdul-Jabbar not only compared Trump to ISIS, but his followers to those who join the ISIS organization — each being “brainwashed,” preferring to “simply believe because it takes extra work to analyze information.” Regarding Trump’s supporters, Abdul-Jabbar stated:
“They are impervious to facts or truth because their (understandable) frustration and anger at partisan greed and incompetence have fatigued them out of critical thinking…they are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore. To express their outrage, they have rallied around a so-called “outsider” with no political experience, no detailed policies, and whacky ideas that subvert the very Constitution that he would be required to swear to uphold.”
Abdul-Jabbar does not want to sympathize with Trump’s supporters, rather he stated:
“It’s shameful enough that Trump’s solutions run contrary to American values, but it’s more shameful that his followers refuse to acknowledge it. ”
This week was an interesting one as we discovered how many supporters are still willing to stand by Trump even though his suggestions about banning Muslims from this country are completely contrary to our American values. It is encouraging, however, to see so many coming out against him. I appreciate that those with resounding voices, like Abdul-Jabbar’s, are not remaining silent, but rather they are calling out Trump for who he truly is.
To read Abdul-Jabbar’s entire article, click here.
Feature image by Greg Skidmore under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License
