Steve Kerr is under fire from Donald Trump’s campaign after his comments about China and human rights abuses resurfaced following his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Just days after leading Team USA to the Olympic Games in Paris, the Warriors head coach took the stage in Chicago.
Before the November election, Kerr endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president, respectively, and even took aim at Trump.
The speech divided opinion among NBA fans and now Kerr is also being attacked for past comments he made about the US and China.
In 2019, the Warriors coach was asked whether the team had ever indicated during one of its trips to the Far East that the NBA’s business interests conflicted with the human rights situation in China.
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention
Kerr mocked Donald Trump by mimicking his Warriors star player Steph Curry’s celebration
Kerr said no, before citing the human rights abuses that occur in the United States. “None of us are perfect, and we all have different issues that we need to address,” he said.
Kerr also declined to comment after then-Rockets general manager Daryl Morey found himself in a firestorm for a tweet supporting the Hong Kong protesters. “I handled it really poorly,” the Warriors coach later admitted.
However, both clips have resurfaced on social media following his speech at the DNC, with Kerr being accused of wanting to criticize America but not China.
Trump’s campaign report was among several stories criticizing the Warriors coach. He wrote on X: ‘Steve Kerr said tonight that “speaking politically these days carries risks… but it was too important for an American citizen not to say anything.”
“This is the same Steve Kerr who refused to comment when asked about human rights abuses in China.”
The account added the following alongside a clip of his 2019 comments: “Kerr is an advocate for China’s human rights abuses.”
Kerr has come under fire from Trump’s campaign over comments he made about China
Kerr was speaking at a Warriors press conference when he was accused of equating human rights abuses in China with problems at home.
“It hasn’t come up in terms of people asking me about it, people talking about it. No,” Kerr said at the time. “Also, our history of human rights abuses hasn’t come up. Things that our country needs to look at and fix — that hasn’t come up either.
“So none of us are perfect and we all have different issues that we need to address. Saying that is my right as an American. It doesn’t mean I hate my country. It means I want to address things.
“But in China, people didn’t ask me about people who had AR-15s and ran each other over in a mall.
“I haven’t been asked that question, so we can play this game all we want – and get all over the map – and there’s this problem and that problem. The world is a complex place and there’s more gray than black and white.”
“None of us are perfect and we all have different issues that we need to work on,” Kerr said in 2019