Kareem Abdul-Jabbar speaks at DNC, criticizes Donald Trump
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar slammed Donald Trump during his speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, criticizing the Republican presidential nominee for anti-Muslim comments made throughout his campaign.
“Donald Trump’s idea to register Muslims and prevent them from entering our country is the very tyranny [Thomas] Jefferson abhorred,” Abdul-Jabbar said during the short speech.
He went on to state that the use of discrimination will not change American values.
“At its core, discrimination is the result of fear. Those who think Americans scare easily enough to abandon our country’s ideals in exchange for a false sense of security underestimate our resolve,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
Abdul-Jabbar, 69, started the speech on a light-hearted note, introducing himself as fellow Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, before joking that he did that because Trump won’t not be able to tell the difference.
Born Lew Alcindor, Abdul-Jabbar changed his name after converting to Islam.
He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and was named to 15 All-NBA teams. Abdul-Jabbar has been a civil rights activist throughout his career and was selected as a U.S. global cultural ambassador by Hillary Clinton in 2012.
