Gregg Popovich slams Donald Trump for 'thin skin,' supports women's marches
Gregg Popovich is one of the few high-profile coaches in American sports willing to speak publicly about social matters outside the realm of their sport.
Back in November, the San Antonio Spurs head coach told the media he was "sick to his stomach" after Donald Trump was elected president.
On Saturday, Popovich returned again to the subject of Trump after being asked his opinion on the women's marches taking place around the world following the president's inauguration.
Popovich said he appreciates the marches and their message, but is growing increasingly distrustful and worried over the acumen and ability of the person that those messages are meant for.
"Today was great," Popovich said in video posted by Cleveland.com. "I mean, that message is important. And it could've been a whole lot of groups marching. And if somebody said on TV, 'Well, what's their message?' Their message is obvious...
"There's a majority of people out there, since Hillary won the popular vote, who don't buy his act. I just wish that he ... had the ability to be mature enough to do something that really is inclusive, rather than just talking and saying 'I'm going to include everybody.' ...
"So far, we've gotten to the point where you can't believe anything that comes out of his mouth. You really can't. ...
"At the CIA today, instead of honoring the 117 people behind him when he was speaking, he talked about the size of the crowd [at the inauguration]. That's worrisome. That's worrisome. I'd just feel better if somebody that was in that position that showed the maturity and psychological and emotional level of somebody that was his age. It's dangerous and it doesn't do us any good. ...
"There's a difference between respecting the office of the presidency and who occupies it. ... It's hard to be respectful of someone when we all have kids and we're watching him being misogynistic and xenopohic and racist; make fun of handicapped people.
"What really bothers me are the people around him. The Sean Spicers and Kellyanne Conways and Reince Priebuses who know who he is, and actually have the cynical approach and disingenuous attitude to really defend him and try to make it sound like he didn't say what he said.
"So when he's mad at the media for reporting what he said," Popovich said, "that just boggles my mind. ...
"If any of our children would said [what Trump said], we would ground them for six months. Without a doubt.
"We ignore all that because... because ... why?"
Dan is on Twitter.
