Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr conflated human rights abuses in China to mass shootings in the U.S.
Kerr said that he has never been asked about human rights abuses while traveling to China, adding that America’s “record of human rights abuses” hasn’t come up either. A clip of Kerr answering questions Thursday sparked blowback on social media, with many users complaining that he was kowtowing to the Chinese.
After Kerr said that human rights has never come up when traveling in China, he added, “Nor has our record of human rights abuses come up either. You know, things that our country needs to look at and resolve, that hasn’t come up either. So none [of] us are perfect and we all have different issues that we have to get to.
“People in China didn’t ask me about, you know, people owning AR-15s and mowing each other down in a mall. I wasn’t asked that question,” Kerr said.
“So we can play this game all we want and go all over the map and you know, there’s this issue and that issue and that world is a complex place and there’s more gray than black and white,” he added.
Steve Kerr on if he’s ever been asked about human rights during his previous trips to China:
“No. Nor has (America’s) record of human rights abuses come up either… People in China didn’t ask me about, you know, people owning AR-15s and mowing each other down in a mall.” pic.twitter.com/56mNC7LmID
— Sam Hustis (@SamHustis) October 11, 2019
Earlier this week, President Trump attacked Kerr after the Warriors coach refused to criticize China in its ongoing feud with the NBA.
“I watched this guy, Steve Kerr. He was like a little boy,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “He was so scared to even be answering the question.”
“And yet he’ll talk about the United States very badly,” Trump continued.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse also criticized the coach, telling the Washington Examiner on Friday, “In America, Steve Kerr is free to be a dimwit and nobody is going to throw him into a re-education camp. That’s a pretty basic way to think about the difference between America’s free and open society and China’s dictatorship.”
The controversy started after China rebuked the NBA for standing by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who expressed support for demonstrators in Hong Kong.
