Heavyweight Boxing legend Muhammad Ali issued a statement Wednesday in which he indirectly criticizes Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his recent proposal to disallow all Muslims from entering the United States following the mass shooting in San Bernadino, California.
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino or anywhere else in the world,” Ali said, per Julia Jacobo of ABC News. “True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.”
“I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is,” Ali said.
Trump, the current GOP poll leader, recently called for a complete “shutdown of Muslims entering the US until our countries representatives can figure out what’s going on” which comes on the heels of the announcement of his plan to monitor all mosques.
The timing of Ali’s response was perfect. During Barack Obamas most recent national address, in which the president stated “Muslim Americans are our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers and sports heroes”. Trump replied:
Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
This is why we’ll always love “The People’s Champ”, his jab is still strong at age 73.
