WASHINGTON – Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an op-ed in Wednesday’s Washington Post outlining the differences between GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.
Trump felt compelled to respond, Abdul-Jabbar said.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer said Trump and Sanders vary greatly in how they treat the media and activists who criticize them, specifically chastising Trump for the incident with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and the feud with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly.
“It’s easy to buy into the Trump mirage because his rising poll numbers indicate he’s actually doing well,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “But, polls are historically misleading, and his supporters will eventually desert him.”
According to Abdul-Jabbar, his op-ed didn’t go unnoticed by the real estate mogul. He claimed Trump sent him a handwritten note on a print out of his op-ed.
“Kareem – Now, I know why the press treated you so badly – they couldn’t stand you,” Trump said. “The fact is that you don’t have a clue about life and what has to be done to make America great again! Best wishes.”
Abdul-Jabbar posted the note to his Facebook page.
“Here, again, he attacks a journalist who disagrees with him, not by disputing the points made, but by hurling schoolyard insults such as ‘nobody likes you,'” Abdul-Jabbar said.
The Trump campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Trump, who usually takes to Twitter to fire insults at people, has yet to tweet anything about the op-ed.
