Athletes speak out in wake of Donald Trump’s remarks on Muslims
Players from the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos have spoken out against Donald Trump in the wake of the presidential candidate’s remarks about Muslims.
Trump recently announced he would ban all Muslims from entering the United States if elected president. Trump also questioned President Barack Obama when Obama mentioned Muslim sports heroes during a national address.
Ryan Harris of the Broncos and Isa Abdul-Quddus of the Lions, both Muslim, criticized Trump for his comments.
“I’m just hoping that either he can change his mindset to be a bit more open-minded, or people just realize we can’t have this ignorance in office.” Abdul-Quddus said, according to The Detroit News.
Harris called Trump’s comments “xenophobic hate speech,” and expressed concern for the effects it can have on innocent Muslims.
• BURKE: A postseason look at the ’16 draft’s top 40 prospects
“The only Muslims I know are peaceful, loving people, that’s the overwhelming majority. I can also tell you, a lot of Muslims are getting scared,” Harris said, according to USA TODAY. “When you start hearing that kind of rhetoric, and you can never control what some psychopathic extremist is going to do that’s going to have an effect on all of us.”
Harris and Abdul-Quddus are not the only Muslim athletes to speak out against Trump.
Muhammad Ali, though not directly referencing Trump, called for political leaders to bring understanding about Islam. In an essay for Time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar described Trump’s comments as “cruel and dim-witted.”
