Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has dramatically walked back his disparaging comments about Donald Trump, admitting he was wrong to call the president a ‘buffoon’.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker, polarizing NBA coach Kerr dabbled in his political views while also discussing his past, the modern NBA and where his future may lie.
With Kerr rumored to be on the brink of leaving the Warriors this season, the coach was asked about a no-holds-barred ‘rant’ he went on during a press conference the day after Trump was elected in 2016.
Kerr, who has never been shy about his political beliefs, recalled: ‘He was establishing this new tone of communication that we were going to have in this country. I was so disgusted that I didn’t hold back.’
However, years later, Kerr admits that there may have been room for him to have more control over his feelings.
‘I’ve learned that I need to be better in terms of representing our organization in a way that I could still let my feelings be known but not get too personal,’ he admitted. ‘I’m representing a large group of people.’
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admits he regrets calling President Trump a ‘buffoon’
Kerr made the remarks about Trump the day after he was first elected President in 2016
Kerr then noted how political communication has changed since Trump’s election, but admits: ‘I don’t think it’s all Trump’s fault. I think it was happening before Trump: the forces in social media, the forces in our country, the division.’
The coach added: ‘He definitely has taken advantage of that to gain and to consolidate power. And he’s using it to drive a wedge between all of us. He’s not the only one who’s done that, but he’s the President. He’s got the most power.
‘But calling the President a buffoon, I kind of regret that, even though I felt it in my heart. It’s better to point out policy decisions, but also American values. What’s wrong with the things that he does.’
In terms of those policy decisions, Kerr took particular issue with the war in Iran and Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon.
It’s a subject that the coach knows well considering Kerr’s father, Malcolm Kerr, was an expert in the Middle East. Malcolm was the president of the American University of Beirut in 1984 when members of the Islamic Jihad Organization, a group with close ties to Hezbollah, shot and killed him in his office.
While he expresses a desire to depose the Iranian regime, Kerr takes issue with the manner in which the United States has carried itself.
‘My dad was killed by Iranian proxies forty-two years ago. I have no regard for the Iranian regime whatsoever. But the answer does not lie in starting a war and killing innocent people,’ Kerr explained.
‘Imagine being a parent of one of the one hundred and seventy-five girls who died when their school was bombed. Their loss, their suffering . . . How are they going to feel about America? Violence begets violence.
Despite Kerr’s outspoken nature about politics, he says he has no desire to run for office
Kerr is rumored to be on the brink of leaving the Golden State Warriors this summer
‘We’ve seen it in Israel and Lebanon as well. There was an opening for Israel to handle their business with the Palestinians diplomatically that would have solidified the Abraham Accords and allowed stronger alliances with Arab countries that would have really cornered Iran.
‘Instead, Israel sought revenge for October 7th and now seventy-two thousand Palestinians have been killed and Israeli settlers are taking over the West Bank illegally, with the approval of Israel’s government and the U.S. Ambassador, Mike Huckabee. That’s not a path to any sort of peace or security for Israel or the rest of the Middle East.’
Kerr generally summarized his opinion on the American political sphere as such: ‘I think we’re as weak as we’ve ever been as a country, at least in a long time, because our leadership is so misguided.
‘There’s a lack of humility, a lack of dignity, a lack of understanding of the world, a lack of embracing other perspectives. The belligerence.
Despite his outspoken nature and his family’s history with foreign relations, Kerr feels no desire to explore a role in government.
‘I don’t have any desire to go into politics,’ he said. ‘I love basketball. This is my world. All of my friends and my people are in this world. And whether I keep coaching the Warriors or not, I imagine I’ll be involved in basketball.’
