Gregg Popovich decries Trump, ‘troublesome’ appointment of Steve Bannon
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich continued to express his frustrations with Donald Trump on Wednesday, again discussing the president-elect with reporters and calling the appointment of Steve Bannon as chief strategist “troublesome.”
Popovich was outspoken last week about Trump and the election, and has remained outspoken about America’s political state in wake of the results.
The selection of Bannon, the executive chairman of ultra-conservative and factually questionable Breitbart News, as a presidential advisor has drawn considerable ire. Bannon associates himself with the alt-right, which has been associated with white supremacy, among other stances.
Popovich’s comments on Bannon, Trump’s divisive campaign rhetoric and its implications for minorities were as follows, according to Tim Bontemps of TheWashington Post.
“Well, I think [Bannon’s appointment] is very troublesome to many of us. As I said, it would be great if [Trump] made some statements to all of the groups he disparaged, to bring us all together, and to allay fears, because there are a lot of fearful people, and for good reason. But rather than doing that, he inflamed it even more with that appointment. It’s kind of ironic.
“I wonder sometimes if [Trump] made all those statements, he certainly whipped up the fearmongering and emotion in that base, but it’s going to be ironic because now a lot of the things he told them he’s going to do he’s already started to walk back a little bit. It’s sort of like, did he use them all toget elected, and thus winning again? He’s pretty good at that. You can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth. It changes day to day, depending on the situation and what he needs at the moment.”
Popovich would not speculate on what he would do in the event of the Spurs visiting the White House during Trump’s term.
