Swansea City Manager and patriotic American Bob Bradley ripped United States President-elect Donald Trump for a campaign he described as “divisive” and “ugly.” Bradley, who took over the Welsh side on October 3rd articulated the negative effects that Trump’s toxic image has on the United States of America worldwide and lamented his concerns that a Trump presidency could hurt the United States Men’s National Team.
“Everything that the President does in terms of domestic policy and international relations determines how you are received in all different areas, including sports,” said Bradley, who managed the U.S. from 2006-2011 and led U.S. Soccer into the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup.
Bradley was the predecessor to Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired last week and then replaced by Bruce Arena. Bob Bradley is a close friend and former assistant to Arena, who’s first tenure as USMNT Coach preceded Bradley’s regime. On Saturday November 27th, Swansea won a crazy, off-the-hook, bonkers 5-4 match over Crystal Palace.
The win made Bradley the very first American to achieve a manager win in the Premier League.
“The next World Cup is in Russia and, when you take some of the things that are going on between Russia and Ukraine, there is going to be debate before the tournament,” Bradley said.
“I can only hope moving forward that the responsibilities of the job of President will show a marked difference from what we saw throughout the campaign.”
“I didn’t like any part of the Trump campaign, I can’t stand this type of message,” Bradley continued.
“I can’t put up with the type of values that don’t include an understanding of people that come from different backgrounds.”
“And I can’t put up with values that don’t take into account that people sometimes don’t have everything that you have. I think our country was built upon caring about people who came from different places. I guess if you want to be optimistic you just have to hope that the responsibilities of the job make a big difference in the way Trump handles himself.”
“Because if you just go by the campaign, for me it was divisive and ugly.”
Indeed it was- extremely divisive and ugly. November 8th will go down as one of the darker days in American history. For now, I echo the sentiments of Bob Bradley, we can only hope that Trump governs in a completely different fashion from which he campaigned.
I can’t say that I have any optimism though- certainly not based on what I’ve seen thus far.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.