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Spurs coach on Trump: ‘Can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth’

by Rebecca Savransky - 01/22/17 4:16 PM ET

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich blasted President Donald Trump on Saturday, suggesting he can’t be trusted.

During comments made before the NBA’s Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers met Saturday night, Popovich, who has been critical of Trump in the past, said the Women’s March on Saturday was “great,” ESPN reported.

“That message is important, and it could have been a whole lot of groups marching. And somebody said on TV, ‘What’s their message?’ Well, their message is obvious,” he said.

“That our president comes in with the lowest [approval] rating of anybody who ever came into the office. And there’s a majority of people out there, since Hillary [Clinton] won the popular vote, that don’t buy his act.”

{mosads}Popovich said he wished Trump was mature enough to do something “that really is inclusive,” rather than just talking about being inclusive.

“He could talk to the groups that he disrespected and maligned during the primary and really make somebody believe it,” he said.

“But so far, we’ve got [to] a point where you really can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth. You really can’t.”

He also blasted the president for comments he made when he visited the Central Intelligence Agency earlier in the day. Instead of honoring the people where he was speaking, the president talked abut the size of the crowds at his inauguration, Popovich said.

“That’s worrisome. That’s worrisome. I’d just feel better if somebody was in that position that showed the maturity and psychological and emotional level of somebody that was his age,” he said.

“It’s dangerous, and it doesn’t do us any good. I hope he does a great job, but there’s a difference between respecting the office of the presidency and who occupies it. And that respect has to be earned.”

But he said it’s hard to show respect to someone who is “misogynistic and xenophobic and racist.”

He was also critical of those Trump chose to serve in his administration, pointing to Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus.

Popovich said he doesn’t understand how Trump can get angry when the media reports on what he says.

“It does boggle the mind how somebody can be so thin-skinned. It’s all obvious — it’s about him,” he continued.

“If anything affects him, if it’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ or ‘Hamilton’ or she got 3 more million votes than you. ‘They’re illegal,'” he continued.

“It doesn’t matter what it is, there’s a pattern there. And that’s dangerous. I’d like to have someone with gravitas, but he got there through the Electoral College, which is part of our system, and I hope he does some good things.”

Shortly after Trump’s victory last year, Popovich similarly laid into the president, saying he was “sick to my stomach” over the election results.

Tags Donald Trump