Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr met with a wave of social media condemnation &#8212; and a swift dose of reality &#8212; after he accused Vice President Mike Pence of lying about Iran&#8217;s involvement in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
On Saturday, Pence tweeted that Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani &#8220;assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States&#8221; &#8212; a tweet that met with criticism from left-leaning commenters who claimed Pence miscounted the number of 9/11 hijackers, that Soleimani would not have helped Al Qaeda, and that Iran assisted the United States in the days following the attacks.
Pence&#8217;s spokesperson added context to the tweet in <a href="https://twitter.com/VPPressSec/status/1213233878326009857">a later message of her own</a>, noting that &#8220;the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), under Soleimani&#8217;s leadership, knowingly allowed 12 of the 9/11 hijackers to transit to Afghanistan.&#8221;
Indeed, the State Department seems to support the annotated version of Pence&#8217;s tweet, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/steve-kerr-mike-pence-iran-soleimani">according to Fox News</a>, but the mere tweet was enough to set Kerr off, who compared Pence&#8217;s comments on 9/11 to the Bush Administration&#8217;s campaign to invade Iraq, which included claims of &#8220;weapons of mass destruction&#8221; under Iraqi control, and to the war in Vietnam.
&#8220;One thing I&#8217;ve learned in my lifetime is to not believe our government when it comes to matters of war,&#8221; Kerr tweeted. &#8220;Johnson and Nixon lied about Viet Nam. Bush and Cheney lied about WMD&#8217;s in Iraq. Now Pence is lying about Iran/Soleimani&#8217;s supposed involvement in 9/11.&#8221;
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One thing I&#39;ve learned in my lifetime is to not believe our government when it comes to matters of war. Johnson and Nixon lied about Viet Nam. Bush and Cheney lied about WMD&#39;s in Iraq. Now Pence is lying about Iran/Soleimani&#39;s supposed involvement in 9/11. <a href="https://t.co/jm3oex867A">https://t.co/jm3oex867A</a>
&mdash; Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKerr/status/1213229102527762433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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It&#8217;s odd that Kerr commented so forcefully on a public, political matter given that just a few short weeks ago, he was cautioning his colleagues in the NBA to exercise restraint when speaking about China and the pro-democracy protests still ongoing in Hong Kong.
The NBA took swift action against Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey after he tweeted in support of the pro-democracy (and anti-China) movement in Hong Kong, likely to preserve the NBA&#8217;s lucrative deals with the Chinese government and companies headquartered (and doing billions of dollars in business) within the Communist country. Typically outspoken NBA figureheads, like Kerr and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, were noticeably silent on the issue, even though the NBA was acting at the behest of a foreign country to quash the free speech of its own players and administration.
At the time, Kerr was particularly prickly about the matter.
&#8220;A lot of us don&#8217;t know what to make of it. It&#8217;s something I&#8217;m reading about &#8230; but I&#8217;m not going to comment,&#8221; Kerr said. &#8220;What I’ve found is that it’s easy to speak on issues that I’m passionate about and that I feel like I’m well-versed on, and I’ve found that it makes the most sense to stick to topics that fall in that category.&#8221;
Ultimately, Kerr called the issues between China and Hong Kong a &#8220;really bizarre international story.&#8221;
Saturday, more than a few of Kerr&#8217;s critics on social media remembered his cautionary words.
&#8220;How&#8217;s your research on Chinese authoritarianism going?&#8221; tweeted Fox News host Guy Benson. &#8220;Any update to your comments?&#8221;
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how’s your research on Chinese authoritarianism going? any update to your comments?
&mdash; Guy Benson (@guypbenson) <a href="https://twitter.com/guypbenson/status/1213508987355893761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Oh, hey look who has rediscovered he has strong opinions about geopolitical issues,&#8221; added the Washington Examiner&#8217;s Becket Adams.
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oh hey look who has rediscovered he has strong opinions about geopolitical issues. <a href="https://t.co/Zqacltm7Bd">https://t.co/Zqacltm7Bd</a>
&mdash; 𝚒&#39;𝚖 𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚜𝚊𝚛 (@BecketAdams) <a href="https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/1213506913222180868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Kerr has not elaborated on his expert analysis.

Steve Kerr

NBA Coach Steve Kerr Gets Wrecked For Accusing Mike Pence Of Lying About 9/11

Iran

Left-wing Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr ignored the murderous history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday during a press conference when he was asked about human rights abuses in China as he pivoted to attacking the United States for its &#8220;record of human rights abuses.&#8221;
When asked about whether he&#8217;s ever been asked about China&#8217;s record of human rights abuses before, Kerr responded: &#8220;It has not come up in terms of people asking about it, people discussing it.&#8221;
&#8220;Nor has our record of human rights abuses come up, either,&#8221; Kerr continued as he took a hostile tone toward the United States. &#8220;Things that our country needs to look at and resolve. That hasn&#8217;t come up either. None of us are perfect. We all have different issues we have to get to. &#8230; But people in China didn&#8217;t ask me about, you know, people owning AR-15s and mowing each other down in a mall. I wasn&#8217;t asked that question.&#8221;
&#8220;We can play this game all we want and go all over the map. There&#8217;s this issue and that issue. The world is a complex place and there&#8217;s more gray than black and white,&#8221; Kerr concluded. &#8220;I realize that what&#8217;s popular these days is making it black and white. You&#8217;re either good or you&#8217;re evil. It&#8217;s convenient to do things that way, but not realistic.&#8221;
Kerr at one point noted that his &#8220;feeling&#8221; is that &#8220;things that I&#8217;m going to comment on are the things that I feel comfortable speaking about.&#8221;
Apparently, Kerr is not comfortable acknowledging that communist China has millions of people locked up in concentration camps, severely restricts people&#8217;s freedoms, and is a racist ethnostate that has murdered tens of millions of its own citizens. The Heritage Foundation <a href="https://www.heritage.org/asia/commentary/the-legacy-mao-zedong-mass-murder">reports</a>:
<blockquote>According to the authoritative “Black Book of Communism,” an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao’s repeated, merciless attempts to create a new “socialist” China. Anyone who got in his way was done away with &#8212; by execution, imprisonment or forced famine.</blockquote>
WATCH:
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Steve Kerr on if he&#8217;s ever been asked about human rights during his previous trips to China:
&#8220;No. Nor has (America&#8217;s) record of human rights abuses come up either&#8230; People in China didn&#8217;t ask me about, you know, people owning AR-15s and mowing each other down in a mall.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/56mNC7LmID">pic.twitter.com/56mNC7LmID</a>
— Sam Hustis (@SamHustis) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamHustis/status/1182469667270488064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
Kerr&#8217;s comments gave serious credence to President Donald Trump&#8217;s comments about the NBA coach after Kerr was scared to answer any questions about China.
&#8220;I watch this guy, Steve Kerr, and he was like a little boy. He was so scared to be even answering the question,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;He couldn’t answer the question. He was shaking.  &#8216;Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know.&#8217; He didn’t know how to answer the question. And yet, he’ll talk about the United States very badly.&#8221;
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President Trump criticizes Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich — both vocal critics of Trump — when asked about China putting pressure on the NBA: &#8220;They talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don&#8217;t want to say anything bad&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/rR2dKOelYD">https://t.co/rR2dKOelYD</a> <a href="https://t.co/am9hMQcGG3">pic.twitter.com/am9hMQcGG3</a>
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1182033884080267264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
Kerr&#8217;s comments sparked widespread criticism online from those who questioned the logic behind his statements and who slammed him for what he said.
Federalist Senior Editor David Harsanyi <a href="https://twitter.com/davidharsanyi/status/1182486471355326470">wrote</a>: &#8220;What an immense idiot. The Chinese communist state has murdered tens of millions of people. It has concentration camps open right now. People who shoot ARs in American malls are criminals.&#8221;
Mark Hemingway, Senior Writer at RealClearInvestigations, <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1182491612028592128">wrote</a>: &#8220;If you think gun violence in America is in any way comparable to the atrocities the Chinese government has done and continues to do&#8230; wow. What is going on here? This is a national disgrace.&#8221;
Bloomberg columnist Noah Smith <a href="https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1182499853441499137">wrote</a>: &#8220;China&#8217;s power is such that it can force rich and famous Americans to resort to Twitter-troll-level whataboutism.&#8221;
Josh Jordan <a href="https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/1182485118482616320">wrote</a>: &#8220;And here&#8217;s Steve Kerr comparing China&#8217;s human rights abuses (holding people in camps and silencing Hong Kong protestors) with individuals in the US that commit gun violence. This is pathetic. The NBA deserves whatever fallout they get from their cowardice.&#8221;

NBA Coach Steve Kerr Ignores Brutal History Of Communist China, Attacks United States. Critics Shred Him Online.

China

President Trump weighed in for the first time Wednesday on the ongoing NBA-China debacle by publicly shaming two high-profile coaches for &#8220;pandering to China.&#8221;
Championship-winning coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich, said Trump, refuse to voice criticism of Communist China&#8217;s oppressive policies but seem to have no such hesitations about talking &#8220;very badly&#8221; about the U.S.
The NBA&#8217;s China mess began when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong against China&#8217;s attempts to erode the autonomy of the region and the civil rights of citizens. In response, the Chinese government and the Chinese Basketball Association denounced the GM and threatened to cut ties with the Rockets. The NBA quickly took steps to appease the communist regime, apologizing for having &#8220;deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China,&#8221; while Morey deleted the tweet and apologized for expressing solidarity with pro-democracy protesters.
Asked about the controversy on Monday, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kurr, who hasn&#8217;t been shy in the past about expressing his political views, refused to offer an opinion, drawing widespread criticism.
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Steve Kerr has no comment on NBA’s China issues. He comments on every Trump tweet and can’t support democracy in China? What a complete and total coward. <a href="https://t.co/Fr4FJIaOW0">pic.twitter.com/Fr4FJIaOW0</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1181507119494959105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Popovich has likewise refused to give a direct comment on the issue, only praising NBA commissioner Adam Silver for supposedly supporting free speech because, after saying the league was &#8220;apologetic&#8221; about the situation, Silver said &#8220;we are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression.&#8221;
The commissioner &#8220;came out strongly for freedom of speech,&#8221; Popovich <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/09/gregg-popovich-praises-adam-silver-courage-china-takes-dig-trump/">said</a> Tuesday, despite Silver&#8217;s initial pandering and belated defense of free expression. The San Antonio Spur&#8217;s coach then turned the moment into an opportunity to once again bash Trump.
&#8220;[Silver has] been a heck of a leader in that respect and very courageous,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Then you compare it to what we’ve had to live through the past three years, it’s a big difference. A big gap there, leadership-wise and courage-wise. It wasn’t easy for him to say. He said that in an environment fraught with possible economic peril. But he sided with the principles that we all hold dearly, or most of us did until the last three years. I’m thrilled with what he said. The courage and leadership displayed is off the charts by comparison.&#8221;
Trump, who&#8217;s been in a long-running public feud with Kerr and Popovich, addressed the controversy for the first time Wednesday.
Asked if the Chinese are &#8220;wrong to be putting pressure on the NBA,&#8221; Trump said, &#8220;Well the NBA&#8217;s a different thing. I watch this guy Steve Kerr and he was like a little boy, he was so scared to be answering the question. He wouldn&#8217;t even answer the question — he was shaking, &#8216;Oh, oh, oh, I don&#8217;t know. I don&#8217;t know.'&#8221;
&#8220;He didn&#8217;t know how to answer the question, and yet he&#8217;ll talk about the United States very badly,&#8221; Trump added. As for Popovich, Trump said, &#8220;sort of the same thing, but he didn&#8217;t look quite as scared actually.&#8221;
Overall, he said, &#8220;they talk badly about the United States, but when [they talk] about China, they don&#8217;t want to say anything bad.&#8221;
&#8220;I watch the way that Kerr and Popovich and some of the others were pandering to China, and yet to our own country, it&#8217;s like they don&#8217;t respect it. It&#8217;s like they don&#8217;t respect it,&#8221; Trump concluded. &#8220;I said, &#8216;What a difference — isn&#8217;t it sad?&#8217; It&#8217;s very sad. To me, it&#8217;s very sad.&#8221;
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President Trump criticizes Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich — both vocal critics of Trump — when asked about China putting pressure on the NBA: &#8220;They talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don&#8217;t want to say anything bad&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/rR2dKOelYD">https://t.co/rR2dKOelYD</a> <a href="https://t.co/am9hMQcGG3">pic.twitter.com/am9hMQcGG3</a>
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1182033884080267264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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One of the more outspoken stars of Kerr&#8217;s team, Stephen Curry, has likewise demurred to give a substantive answer when asked about the Hong Kong protests. While admitting that the NBA has been &#8220;really outspoken&#8221; about important issues, Curry said he just doesn&#8217;t &#8220;know that history well enough to kind of speak on it or to form an opinion yet, so that&#8217;s kind of where I&#8217;m at with the situation.&#8221;
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Steph Curry: “This situation, there’s a huge weight and gravity to it. There’s going to need to be some things to be sorted out. But I just don’t know enough about Chinese history and how that’s influenced modern society&#8230;This is not going away. So we’ll come back to it.” <a href="https://t.co/6h6ZGWHQtq">pic.twitter.com/6h6ZGWHQtq</a>
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a href="https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1182040365550850048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<aside class="inline editorial float-r" data-behavior="article_related">As reported by <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27808516/president-donald-trump-critical-warriors-steve-kerr-spurs-gregg-popovich-response-china-controversy">ESPN</a> (which has come under<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espn-bows-to-communist-china-posts-illegitimate-propaganda-map-of-china"> criticism</a> for its own apparent pandering to China), when Curry was asked about Trump calling out his coach Wednesday, Curry said, &#8220;At this point, I don&#8217;t know how Coach reacts — or anybody else who gets called out like that — so you just keep doing what you&#8217;re doing for the most part.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espn-bows-to-communist-china-posts-illegitimate-propaganda-map-of-china">ESPN Bows To Communist China, Posts Illegitimate Propaganda Map Of China</a>
</aside>
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Steve Kerr

NBA Coach Steve Kerr Gets Wrecked For Accusing Mike Pence Of Lying About 9/11

NBA Coach Steve Kerr Ignores Brutal History Of Communist China, Attacks United States. Critics Shred Him Online.

WATCH: Trump Shames NBA Coaches For ‘Pandering To China’