After Muhammad Ali’s passing on Friday night, the media has been buzzing as celebrities and various famous figures alike have taken to social media to pay tribute to the iconic boxer, philanthropist, and human rights activist.
Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, however, felt the need to call out Donald Trump for his obvious hypocrisy in celebrating the death of a man whose religion he so openly hates.
In true Trump fashion, the business mogul took to Twitter and Facebook over the weekend to praise the late Ali, calling him his “friend,” and a “champion.”
Muhammad Ali is dead at 74! A truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2016
But Sanders was quick to note “The Donald’s” hypocritical words, however, given how Trump hasn’t even tried to hide his anti-Muslim stance and his desire to ban Muslims from the United States of America.
During a Los Angeles press conference on Saturday, June 4, Sanders said the following:
“I’ve been all over this country and I’m talking to Muslim people who say, ‘You know, Bernie, our kids are now afraid.’ I say to those people, one of the great American heroes in modern American history was Muhammad Ali, a very proud Muslim. And don’t tell us how much you love Muhammad Ali and yet you’re going to be prejudiced against Muslims in this country.”
The Senator from Vermont continued:
“The reason that Ali struck a chord in the heart of so many Americans was not just his great boxing skill. It was his incredible courage. At a time when it was not popular to do so, Ali stood up and said, ‘I am opposed to the war in Vietnam and I’m not going to fight in that war.’”
He concluded:
“And that incredibly courageous decision cost him three and a half years of his prime fighting life. But he chose to stand by his ideals, his views. What a hero. What a great man.”
According to NBC News, Trump previously tweeted that he didn’t know any great American Muslim athletes, even though he now claims Ali was his friend and the pair met several times.
The tweet caused Ali to speak out in opposition to Trump’s plans to ban Muslims from the U.S., telling NBC News:
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.
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.”
Watch a clip of Sanders’ address below:
