Abdul-Jabbar tangles with Trump: Who's got game?
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump鈥檚 scathing response to criticisms by basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has set pundits and strategists back on their heels wondering if anyone can checkmate him in the polls.
, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, former cultural ambassador for the United States, chess aficionado, and , penned a criticism of Mr. Trump鈥檚 lack of 鈥済race under pressure鈥� in .
In the op-ed, Abdul-Jabbar posited that 鈥渉ow each man responded [to pressure] revealed the type of person he is and the type of president he would make.鈥�
The conclusion he reached is that Bernie Sanders 鈥渙pened immense new possibilities as a compassionate person and serious candidate for president,鈥� while Mr. Trump, 鈥渁uthored his own doom.鈥�
In a hand-written note over a copy of Abdul-Jabbar鈥檚 piece, Trump stated, 鈥淜areem 鈥� Now I know why the press always treated you so badly 鈥� they couldn鈥檛 stand you. The fact is that you don鈥檛 have a clue about life and what has to be done to make America great again!鈥�
Abdul-Jabbar responded to the Monitor in an email Friday, likening Trump to a trash-talking chess player with no game.
"Trump is that chess player who likes to make every move with an aggressive slam of his piece on the board while shouting, 'Bam!' This will intimidate the novice and rattle his game,鈥� Abdul-Jabbar says. 鈥淏ut it's ineffective against the more experienced player who welcomes such players because they are usually weak on strategy and therefore easily defeated. It's the same in basketball. The guy trash-talking all the time is usually the most insecure about his abilities." 聽聽聽聽聽聽
The question for pundits is why Abdul-Jabbar鈥檚 pronouncement isn鈥檛 happening to Trump.
New York University professor and pundit Fraser Seitel says in an interview, 鈥淗e [Trump] calls it like it is. So if he thinks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is wrong, he doesn鈥檛 duck the question as politicians are taught to do. People like me tell politicians, 鈥楲ook, don鈥檛 badmouth anybody, particularly your competition鈥� and he does it all the time. He defies every rule in the public relations book because he only listens to one person and that鈥檚 himself.鈥�
Political activist and chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov says in an interview, 鈥淭rump鈥檚 childish response to Abdul-Jabbar might say something about how dangerous he would be with the power of the presidency, but we already knew that. It is getting him more media attention and that鈥檚 all he cares about.鈥�
However, , a senior fellow at聽the in Washington, D.C., says in an interview that, 鈥溾�hat I think people are responding to, quite frankly, is that it鈥檚 going to take a really imperious person to break through the really frustrating gridlock in Washington. I think in that sense Donald Trump is the wrong solution to the right problem.鈥�
Mr. Seitel adds, 鈥淭rump fights back and doesn鈥檛 take it lying down when people take a swipe at you. I think that鈥檚 as American as John Wayne or any patriot.鈥�
鈥淪ure he doesn鈥檛 appeal right now to African-Americans, or Latinos or moderates, or poor people or middle class Democrats [or women], but the polls are unbelievable,鈥� Seitel says. 鈥淗e has 30 percent popularity over 17 candidates and that鈥檚 unheard of.鈥�
In his op-ed, Abdul-Jabbar wrote: 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to buy into the Trump mirage because his rising poll numbers indicate he鈥檚 actually doing well. But polls are historically misleading, and his supporters will eventually desert him.鈥�
However, if Trump wants to go the distance, 鈥渢he challenge for Trump is to see how much he will moderate; How much he will apologize for some of these things; how much he will bend in order to ultimately take the brass ring," Seitel says. "It鈥檚 a real phenomenon in politics. I wouldn鈥檛 compare him to anybody. He鈥檚 a new brand in electoral politics.鈥�
