In a break with his long-standing media custom of saying nothing controversial or deeply personal, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson said he voted for Hillary Clinton and thinks President Trump “may not be able to last four years,” saying of the new president’s first 11 days: “This thing is getting out of hand.”
As he sat for a haircut in a Los Angeles studio before appearing on a show, Wilson, on a Facebook Live post, spoke critically about the political and social tumult since the inauguration.
“This whole Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton thing has went on, and now Donald Trump becoming our president, despite anybody’s political issues or views, everybody has the right to choose who they want to vote for,” Wilson said. “But this thing is getting out of hand. It’s getting out of hand, people. I don’t care who you voted for.
“Just so you know, I voted for Hillary. But, when you think about it, it’s only been what — two weeks? Or even less than that. We gotta attack this issue here. Basically, I think that when you think of all the negativity that’s happened, it’s already too much. It’s already crazy. It’s already affecting people’s hearts and souls and lives in such a negative way, in my opinion.”
Wilson referred to Trump’s executive order Friday that placed a 90-day pause in travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, including a U.S. ally, Iraq. The decision resulted in the temporary detainment by Homeland Security of more than 300 travelers nationwide, and sparked protests at U.S. airports, including Sea-Tac.
The order was widely perceived to be anti-Muslim and has been largely condemned in the sports world.
“We go to LAX airport and there’s people all over the place, fighting for their lives and protesting,” Wilson said. “All the protests that have gone on through the African-American community, through the Muslim community, too. If we’re gonna be a nation that says we’re equal, we have to be equal.
“Obviously you have to be smart. But you also have to treat people fairly. You have to be able to love everyone. I know from even my own Christian faith, you still have to love everybody. No matter what our issues are, we still have to find ways to love people and care for people.”
Wilson then talked about a truncated Trump term.
“I think that’s the thing that’s been crazy already,” he said. “I don’t even know if he’s going to be able to last four years, in my opinion. You don’t want to wish bad upon anybody. Because if he doesn’t last four years, that means that something went wrong. So hopefully, nothing goes wrong any more than what it’s already doing.
Laughing, Wilson then calls for the return of President Obama.
“It’s just been a crazy 10 days already and . . . Barack! Come back, Barack! Come back, Barack!” he said. “Despite a lot of people’s issues or views, people realize how much President Obama was able to deal with situations.
“People’s feelings are getting hurt, people’s lives are being changed, or people are getting sent back or not let in back home to see their families, for reasons that may not be worthy. Just because you believe in something. or you’re from a certain place, doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. There’s a lot of things I could say.”
That was certainly more than he’s ever said before. Unlike teammates Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett, Wilson has steered clear of political and social themes that might alienate some football fans.
Indeed, the world has changed.
Facebook is paying Wilson and other celebrities and media outlets a fee for using its new tool. Wilson reportedly is receiving $200,000, and probably got its money’s worth.
79 Comments
One week after the Hysterical Women’s March Wilson bashes Trump for vetting emigres from culturally woman beating countries. I don’t get it. America is a melting pot with a fine constitution. We don’t need Sharia law in the mix like they’ve allowed in Britain. Wilson seems like an honest man. Why would he vote for Hillary and her ‘pay to play’ Clinton Foundation? Thankfully, the Clinton machine has shut down that foundation. No more influence to peddle.
If 87% of African Americans voted for the Democrat, is this Wilson’s opinion or just your usual group think. Yes, yes, yes. Wilson is free to air his beliefs.
Art, you’re causing trouble again writing provocative pieces.
Are you really that ignorant? Question: Why is Saudi Arabia where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from not on the list?
Could it be because Trump has business interests in that country?
I’m going to call Attorney General Fergie tomorrow and ask him to investigate your valid concern.
if you had read any articles OTHER than those in the Lib press, this is an initial list. It is the list of 7 countries your boy Obama’s administration identified as those countries where most of the terrorists train. So, now do you have a problem with Obama’s list, that The Empty Suit never took action against?
Quite some projection on your part. I might take your opinion more seriously if you weren’t parroting Fox Noise.
Our “boy?” You sound like your from one of the slave states. You sure don’t sound like a “cool” guy, more like a guy that would actually believe the sixth grade garbage Trump based his campaign on and now we have to live with . . .
We train terrorists at the School of the Americas*
We supported Osama bin Laden in Afghanistans war against Russia, aka “Charlie Wilson’s War”.
“The War on Terror” is nothing more than a profit center for the Military Industrial Complex’s “Endless War for Profit” racket. President Eisenhower warned us to beware the Military Industrial Complex in January 17,1961.
*see: http://soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/what-is-the-soawhinsec
Were you ever stationed at the School of the Americas or, are you just talking trash. I was stationed at Ft. Gulick in the Canal zone with the 8th Special Forces and where we did train Latin and South American military, we DID NOT train terrorists.
Over the top and ignorant hyperbole thrown into the wind simply to exacerbate the discussion is a lame comeback.
History
The School of the Americas (SOA) is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 2001 renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).
It was initially established in Panama in 1946 however it was expelled from Panama in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty (article iv) and reinforced under the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal (article v).
Former Panamanian President, Jorge Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA have left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. For this reason the School of the Americas has been historically dubbed the “School of Assassins”.
Since 1946, the SOA has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.
see:http://soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/what-is-the-soawhinsec
Clearly I was there before the SOA left. I lived in the same barracks with the soldiers who together with the Bolivian troops they trained nailed the murderous Che Guevara in 1968. They killed terrorists. They did not train them.
Why didn’t Obama include Saudi Arabia on his original list? Could it be because Trump has business interests in that country?
Huh? They let you post in kindergarten.
The original list BS is another Trump lie. As known who Donald Trump is for 30 years I know of which I speak. He’s a fake entrepreneur.
If it wasn’t for the money his daddy gave him he’d be hustling three card monte in Times Square.
He does hustle 3 card monte and $10.00 rolex’s..the main reason people visit New York.
Trump is an absolute moron. If you guys voted for him I feel sorry for you. The last thing I want is a leader that sets a tone at the top as hateful and divisive as this idiot.
Angela Merkel had to explain the Geneva Convention to him. It’s clear he never studied in school and has never read the Constitution. It’s also clear he is not of sound mind, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l_f_Q-MflU&t=8s
I can’t be more proud as to have accompanied both my daughter and my mother on the women’s march. It was an incredibly positive experience.
Good for you . . .
Been doing it for much of my career, Reeb. This story was news nationwide the minute Wilson posted to Facebook.
You better get used to politics intruding on the sports world, which will be a national flashpoint.
So Russell is against government officials leaving the government and going directly to work for a corporation that they used to regulate? Trump just fixed that conflict of interest.
RW needs to grow up, gain some wisdom and shut the F up. His only presidential reference is Obama, who apparently no one has let him in on it, was a DISASTER. A disaster whose only “legacy” is Syria: Look it up RW: Over 400,000 killed, over 5 MILLION displaced, over 2 MILLION refugees to Europe, all after your Obama sat on his azz, not willing to enforce his feeble, “red line”,
RW can go to hell.
Boy, you really are 1coolguy. Can’t wait to read more of your intelligent and inciteful posts.
Compliment accepted. Thank you
Dude, I am not sure you understand sarcasm, or if you do, how to respond. Sad. Bigly sad.
Your reply was expected. Ugh…………………
Well, 1dumbguy, your idiocy and lack of grammar grace is consistent . . .
I must say you’re pretty eloquent for being 14. If you’re going to insist that you’re an adult, I’d recommend gaining a writing style that matches your age. This looks like the way my kid talks when gaming online. Sheesh. If you want to be heard, at least try to sound smart.
Add the fact that Hillary won less than 55% of the vote in Washington state suggests that even in the most liberal hate filled state in the country there is still over 45% decent citizens left. Go ahead Russell and bloviate away…just remember there are Trump fans everywhere.
Wilson is absolutely right. Exit polls show Hillary won a 9 point nationwide landslide and the electoral college as well. see See: http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/early-voting-results-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-polls-targetsmart-wrong-skewed-florida/
Trump is 100% illegitimate. His entire administration needs to be removed from the white house. We need new elections in July. We can get along without a president and cabinet till then. Mr. Obama will be welcome back as interim president. see 99percentparty.com
Mr. Wilson is right about the ban, too. Here is the law.
1st Amendment to the Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Thank you Mr. Wilson for speaking out.
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That will be a point the ACLU will be making in court, and why a federal judge granted a stay of the EO.
Thanks for putting this out there, Art . . .
Your Federal judge does immigration law in his spare time. Can you spell “conflict of interest” ?
How did those exit polls work out for John Kerry?
Was the 2004 Election Stolen? | Common Dreams | Breaking News …
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0601-34.htm
Jun 1, 2006 – … exit polls, which predicted an overwhelming victory for John Kerry..
Exit polls are always right..Networks used them year in and year out to accurately predict winners in the races for White House, Senate and Congress. It is the machines with no paper trails rigged to “flip” elections from Democrats to Republicans that have given us a Republican Senate, House, and, now Trump..whose entire administration is illegitimate and must be removed. see http://www.99percentparty.com
Did it ever occur to you that many people coming out of polls and being asked how they voted choose to take whatever safe path they can see and so, do not tell the truth.
I have over 70 years on this planet and have read the current reports on elderly people being beaten in the streets by progressive thugs for simply wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. Nothing really new and another example of why people lie when pollsters attempt to determine how they voted in a public venue.
no one lies to exit pollers as the polls are anonymous. Source please for :Progressive thugs beating elderly trump supporters. “Progressive thugs” is a contradiction in terms”. You want examples of thuggery, view any trump rally on youtube. He has the few attendees sign “loyalty oaths” before letting them in. Anyone protesting is throw out by his mob thugs he calls “security”..
Thuggery, violence, torture, intimidation, bribery, extortion, thievery are characteristic of Nazis and the Mafia. see: CNN’s Donald Trump and the mob http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/31/politics/trump-mob-mafia
This is my last contact with you as your oblivious mind and vicious tone while totally in keeping with your leftist ideology are not worth conversing with.
You appear to have no method of learning from those with whom you engage as demonstrated by your sound bite replies and I’ve wasted enough time conversing with you. Perhaps someday you will learn to hear what people are saying without the need to prove that not only are you right but they are idiots. If the way you talk to me is the way you talk to other people in your range of experience I would expect that range to tighten as you grow older.
Learn to communicate rather than attempting to instill your ideology into whoever happens to momentarily notice you. But, only if you truly wish to come across in a somewhat of civil manner.
Illegal aliens have no constitutional rights period…. President Trump will be reelected in a landslide in four years and you liberal wonks will need your tear ducts replaced
You cannot be reelected if you were not elected in the first place.
Exit polls are always right. They show a 9 point landslide for HRC including winning the electoral college.
See: http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/early-voting-results-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-polls-targetsmart-wrong-skewed-florida/
How can anyone support a person for president who makes his living in the Prostitution, Gambling and Construction rackets in NY and NJ with a 30 year history of doing deals with the Genovese and Gambino Crime families?
See CNN’s Donald Trump and the Mob www.cnn.com/2015/07/31/politics/trump-mob-mafia
We need to hold new elections, see 99percentparty.com
You’re wise to stick to football and nanobubbles Russ. People ‘fighting for their lives’ at LAX? Please.
My guess is he meant livelihoods by being able to return to the U.S. to continue work/school. Don’t judge a QB or a protest by one turnover.
Possibly lives, too…if forced to return to their nation of birth.
@artthiel:disqus I think lives is the correct term. We are talking about refugees. Their plight is far greater than anything I could understand.
A fumble art. A fumble
@sudslinger:disqus
Definition: Refugee
ref·u·gee /refyo͝oˈjē/
noun
plural noun: refugees
a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Nice to see Russ show such guts off the field. Nobody can argue that this isn’t an historically tumultuous time in America. And no one knows how it will play out, but I’m guessing Russ is getting on the right side of history. Complacency and complicity at this time may not wear well in years to come.
By all means, make your best move.
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Thank you for reaffirming my decision to never watch another NFL game. Including this Sunday.
Crikey, I didn’t even vote for the guy but the way you unhinged leftists are acting? I wish I did.
Unhinged leftists? You don’t know what you’re talking about, Crikey. My opinion of my fellow citizens took a deep and dirty dive Nov. 9. RW is much too nice. I prefer Robert DeNiro’s opinion of Trump . . .
So, you don’t think rioting in the street every time the duly elected president scratches his behind is unhinged ?
That kind of behavior is the definition of unhinged.
Your source for duly elected please.
Duly elected? Let’s try regime changing coup…Source please for “Duly elected”.
We elected a democrat. We got a republican. First Cheney, now Pence. How did this happen?
Since when did government of, by and for the people become leftist? Looking at history, violence always comes from the Nazi right. Can you name one communist, socialist or democratic government of, by and for the people that ever invaded or was the aggressor in a war against america?
It is the right wing of america that has started every illegal invasion and war for profit since ww2. Nixon: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Chile
Reagan: El Salvador, (see Iranscam, Iran Contra, October Surprise,) Nicaragua and Grenada, Kissinger was in on all of them, as was the CIA, to complete the regime changes from democratically elected governments to fascist military Dictatorships. GHWBush: Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. W Bush and Cheney Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. Obama went along with the Cheney-Kissinger policies and bears responsibility for being complicit in the ongoing Endless war for profit racket prosecuted by the Military Industrial Complex President Eisenhower warned us to beware.
Go Falcons..Go Seahawks!
I’m no Fan of Nixon, but get your facts straight. Nixon ended the Vietnam war
Johnson and Kennedy started it
The Pentagon Papers reveal Nixon was involved from the beginnig as Eisenhowers VP, personally distributing leaflets over Hanoi with the CIA’s Colonel Lansdale in an attempt to “destabalize” the Government of Vietnam.
NIxon did not end the war. He accelerated the bombing of Vietnam to a level greater than WW2.
The War ended in disgrace with our helicopters dropping into the sea as Americans and their vietnamese cohorts attempted escape.
Vietnam is now a trade partner and tourist destination for Americans and people from around the world. Let’s hope we get as good a result from our invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Back to football, among Trumps record 6 bankruptcies and business failures is the USFL’s New Jersey Generals. His fellow owners blame Trump for the leagues demise and their losses, see NY Times “Donald Trumps less than Artful failure in pro football”..
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/sports/football/donald-trumps-less-than-artful-failure-in-pro-football.html
Is there any reason to think America will not suffer a similar, or worse, fate under the unelected one should he and his illegitimate administration be allowed to stay in office?
Communists dictators have been far too busy murdering their own populace to take a time out to kill anyone not living in their immediate vicinity. They’ve been very good at proxy wars though.
A little data to dim your admiration of communist regimes:
Death dealt by:
Stalin—20,000,000 +
Mao—40,000,000 +
Pol Pot—1.5 million (out of a max population of 8,000,000).
The rest of your demented ideology is not worth responding to.
20 million is the number of russians who died in ww2.
Your ignorance of history is exposed every time you tap the keys.
One of the best things about sports is that, except for those financially involved, sports can be an escape from the reality of the day because in the end it is fun without consequence. I respect Wilson’s right to express his opinion. But, I would rather see these
sport blogs free of the political discourse that exists in our daily lives and stick to what is “fun without consequence”.
@disqus_e7uXxZdma9:disqus You have a browser? Because there is an endless supply of “fun” content for you to consume, however you may define it. So go have fun.
In this great country, the USA, we have #FreedomOfSpeech. Though there may be attempts to curb our freedoms (I see you Drumpf; #Resist), it is still the right of Art Thiel to write about and DangeRuss to speak about what they want. You prefer not to join the conversation, use that field at the top of your browser to surf somewhere else.
Of course, I would prefer that you do join the discourse, but that’s your choice (as it is with #FreedomOfSpeech). I just hope you don’t learn the hard way, as Martin Niemoller famously recited:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
I don’t understand your concern about freedom of speech. you must have missed my statement affirming his right to express his opinion. I also respect Art’s similar right. I’d prefer to read about sports on the sports page/blog and let the political discussions be on other places.
By the way,
One of my favorite quotes is “we will entertain ourselves to death”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death
gracias for the correction..”Amusing ourselves to death”
Too late, Tom. See my response above. Trump’s political and policy decisions will disrupt sports, and all the people in them and who watch them. Get used to it.
He won’t care. He single-handedly cashiered the USFL. Didn’t care then, won’t care now.
So Wilson is hoping for the return of B.O, the Manchurian Candidate with a faked (OK Democrats, let’s say “of questionable origin” to assuage your PC brains) birth certificate, who’d gotten a free ride through college under a foreign student exemption, and whose college records and complete
life history had been sealed. (We know more about Thomas Jefferson’s bastard children than we do about Obama, Michelle, OR their two kids.) From his inaugural address, he slandered America and within days had begun to encourage dissention of the races as
well as slandering police who “acted stupidly.” That was mild to the crap that would come in doubling the national debt from what had been built by ALL THE PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED, feeding us bullspit about how Muslims built this country, and nationalizing
American industries. Fueled by George Soros’ money and using the Air Force fleet as his personal charters, he appointed malcontents and traitors into positions of authority. He trashed the Constitution by installing “czars” (interesting he chose a title
like that) to bypass Congressional authority. By that time, Congress was completely corrupt on both sides of the aisle. No one had balls to impeach this charlatan.
Certainly this piece can go in your ‘High Response’ file, Art. And we’re all learning about each other, good, bad and ugly . . .
I was going to say boy in the bubble but I think he coldly calculated his base, lefti Coastal liberal Elites before he made this statement.
I think he said what he believed. You are free to disagree with him.
He believed what he said, and he knew it would play in latte land. My point is that if he was QBing in deplorable country he may have made a different calculation as to just how much of his feeling to express . One of the things I really like about the man is his narrow focus, single mindedness and deep seated determination to be one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time. That this is at the cost of a greater over all awareness of politics goes with out saying. I do agree with him from the perspective of the deep state not taking kindly to a freelancer interloper. But I would venture that it is even money just who wins.
Speaking of elite no I’m not going to stop watching my team after waiting 25 years for them to get to Elite level.
I’m against pushing too much politics into sports blogs. Better that they should remain a complete escape. A break from every day reality. Like sex. Like getting drunk. Like a beach in Hawaii. A Trump-Free Zone. When I turn on the faucet in the shower, I don’t expect to get Donald Trump. Same with sports. Time out.
Would that it would be true, woofer. Trump has changed the discussion by making political decisions that hurt the immigrants on the Mariners, Sounders and every other pro sports and college team, directly or indirectly.
And for a different set of reasons, politics are part of every step of the Sonics arena process.
The sports world changed Jan. 20. I think you need to deal with it or step away.
Of course you are right in strictly factual terms. I truly appreciate your efforts to report responsibly the social side of sports issues. And my comment was more inspired by the responses to your article than by the article itself.
But we also need to understand on a more personal level that Trumpism is a dark psychological compulsion that needs to kept at bay, an itchy scab that invites constant picking and scratching. So we need to consciously control the effect of Trumpism in our lives in order that it does not end up controlling us. That means keeping it within its proper boundaries, and learning to talk about it without obsessing or giving it more importance than it merits. Say what needs to be said as objectively as possible and then move on.
Name one,just one Art One stinking Mariner player that has been hurt by President Trumps decision
I’ll be waiting Liberalart
Good to be talking football here but you can’t talk football without talking Trump.
Trumps New Jersey Generals were one of his many business failures.
His fellow USFL owners blame Trump for the collapse of the league and their significant losses.
So yes, when the water from your faucet turns Orange, you’ll know its the Don coming for you and everything you own.
If he has his way, there will be no such thing as a “Trump Free Zone”.
I knew there were more Democrats in the Seattle area than Republicans but I didn’t know till I read these posts that so many (but not all) were radical Socialists
I was simply going to “up-vote” you Ken, but decided instead to emphasize my support of your view by putting it into print.