Politics

2 Tweets About Muhammad Ali Prove Trump Will Say Anything for a Vote

June 4th 2016

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is getting caught up in some double-speak for his comments on the passing of boxing champion and civil rights icon Muhammad Ali.

Early Saturday morning Trump tweeted condolences for Ali, calling him a "great champion" who will be "missed by all."

However, Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski pointed out that as recently as last year, Trump totally ignored Ali's faith in an attempt to diminish the contributions of Muslim athletes.

Last December, President Barack Obama made a speech to the nation from the White House in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack in San Bernardino, by two shooters who investigators say professed allegiance to ISIS. The president cautioned against anti-Muslim rhetoric and made general references to Muslims who have contributed to American society and culture.

"That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes -- and, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that." — President Barack Obama

Apparently, Donald Trump couldn't think of any great Muslim sports heroes, even though Muhammad Ali was one of the most famous Muslim-Americans ever and commonly considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time. In his tweet, Trump claimed ignorance about which sports heroes Obama was referencing and accused the president of "profiling."

That same day, Trump released his plan to Muslims from entering the United States.

Ali himself, the great Muslim-American boxer and outspoken civil rights activist, responded to Trump's plan.

Ali wrote in a statement that Muslims have to stand up to people like Trump who use anti-Muslim sentiments "for their own personal agenda."

"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody. Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is." — Muhammad Ali

RELATED: Donald Trump Just Took Islamophobia to a Near Unimaginable Level

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