Trump playing right into ISIS' hands, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says
Sports icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has long made his displeasure with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump known, especially since the latter began calling for barring Muslims from immigrating to America.
Last December at the start of the primary race, Abdul-Jabbar famously published an op-ed in Time magazine saying "the 2016 candidate has more in common with the terrorist group (ISIS) than he does with America." Abdul-Jabbar insinuated that Trump behaved a lot like a terrorist on many fronts in that and subsequent writings about the candidate.
The two had long been engaged in a back-and-forth about Trump's popular public rhetoric, with Trump telling Abdul-Jabbar earlier in a handwritten note, "you don't have a clue about America."
In an interview with CBSN' Josh Elliot during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Abdul-Jabbar clarified some of his thoughts on Trump.
"A lot of the things that he is advocating are playing into the hands of the terrorists, just the fact that he wants to discriminate against Muslims," Abdul-Jabbar said. "This is just what the people of ISIS are counting on in recruiting."
The basketball Hall of Famer and all-time NBA scoring leader, who converted to Islam more than 40 years ago, said he struggles watching so many Americans go along with Trump's apparent open discrimination against Muslims.
"It's hard to hear that when you're a patriot American," Abdul-Jabbar said. "Most American Muslims are peaceful and patriotic."
Abdul-Jabbar has been a vocal supporter of Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. He praised the Democratic nominee for the new ground she is breaking in American politics for being the first female nominee of a major party.
"What Hillary is doing is very much similar to what President Obama did" in terms of opening new doors in politics, Abdul-Jabbar said.
He called Clinton, "the right woman for this time because she has all this experience."
Abdul-Jabbar also praised supporters of Bernie Sanders, saying, "We need their support and they deserve the respect and consideration of their point of view."
Outside of his playing career, Abdul-Jabbar has also long been an outspoken civil rights advocate, and said he was upset by the current state of race and police relations today. Both his father and grandfather were police officers.
"We need to get both sides to talk to each other," Abdul-Jabbar said, adding that if cops can't do their job effectively, "then the rule of law is not effective."