Gregg Popovich Calls out Republican Lawmakers in Wake of Nashville School Shooting: ‘Can They Imagine That Happening to Theirs?’
San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich called out Republican politicians for what he considered inaction in the aftermath of the Nashville school shooting that left three students and three faculty members dead.
The 74-year coach made the comments during his pregame media availability before the Spurs faced off against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. He spent several minutes making the case for tighter gun laws and calling out a number of elected officials by name.
“(Sen.) Lindsey Graham or (Rep.) Jim Jordan… whoever of them have kids or nieces or nephews or grandkids,” Popovich said, “can they imagine that happening to theirs? Are they incapable of knowing what that’s like?”
He then said there were several politicians whose comments he wrote down so he could fire back at them, including Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“Senator Marsha Blackburn, her comment after the massacre: ‘My office is in contact with federal, state, and local officials, and we stand ready to assist,’” Popovich said. “In what? They’re dead. What are you going to assist with? Cleaning up their brains off the wall? Wiping the blood off the schoolroom floor? What are you going to assist with?”
Popovich said when he drops off his 6 and 11-year-old grandchildren from school, he wonders if they’re going to be OK. He noted how stark a contrast it is from his days as a student.
“Most of you in this room, when we were in school, we worried if Nancy would dance with us on Friday after the football game or something,” he said. “That was our anxiety. But they’re gonna cloak all this stuff (under) the myth of the Second Amendment, the freedom. It’s a myth. It’s a joke.”
“Is it freedom for kids to go to school and try to socialize, and try to learn, and be scared to death that they might die that day? But (Texas Sen.) Ted Cruz will fix it because he’s gonna double the number of cops in the schools. That’s what he wants to do. Well, that’ll create a great environment. Is that freedom?”
According to San Antonio Express-News reporter Mike Finger, Popovich also brought up the Kent State Massacre, ” napalmed the Vietnamese girl,” Emmett Till, and George Floyd as examples in which the country “finally took notice after seeing horrors with their own eyes.”
“What will it take?” Popovich said. “Do we have to show it? Do we have to show that classroom?”
