Legendary and incendiary Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight said Wednesday night that Donald Trump would be one of the best presidents in U.S. history.
Trump, who has boasted that he can be "more presidential than anybody, other than the great Abe Lincoln," got a boost from Knight a day after Trump swept the primary contests in five northeastern states.
"They talk in a negative way when they want to about Donald, and say he isn’t presidential," Knight said of Trump’s opponents. "I don’t know what the hell that means. To me I think of Harry Truman, they said Harry Truman wasn’t presidential. And damn, he went on to be one of the three best presidents in U.S. history. [Trump] will at some point be one of those also."
"You folks are taking a look at the most prepared man in history to step in as president of the United States," Knight added at the rally in Indianapolis, less than a week from the state’s primary on May 3.
"The General" has one of the most impressive resumes in American sports. As a college coach, he set a record for wins, led the Hoosiers to three NCAA Championships, won a dozen other college championships and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year eight times. He also coached the U.S. Men's Olympic Team, Texas Tech and U.S. Army.
But his conquest of college sports came with heavy doses of controversy and aggression. He was charged and convicted in absentia of assaulting a police officer in Puerto Rico during the 1979 Pan American Games, famously threw a chair across the court during a 1985 game, manhandled players and fans, and was not always friendly with the press and refs. He was fired from his position at Indiana in 2000 over his "unacceptable pattern of behavior," which included verbal attacks on a female university official, and allegations that he choked a former player.
Trump said earlier this week that he would like it if Knight endorsed his campaign. “Tough, strong, smart. I would like to get that for Indiana, I’ll tell you what. To me, that would be a great endorsement,” Trump said.
Last night, Ted Cruz (R-Texas) chose basketball as his avenue to connect with Indiana voters. Cruz tried to recreate a famous scene from the iconic basketball movie “Hoosiers,” but it didn’t work out that well.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
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