Under Armour CEO Provokes Left Wing Fauxrage By Commenting on Donald Trump

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank went on CNBC to discuss his company's challenges in the marketplace earlier this week. As part of a much longer interview about his business Plank was asked about his role, alongside 28 other business executives, on the president's manufacturing council. Plank was specifically asked his opinions of Donald Trump in the context of that manufacturing council and said the following:

"I think he's highly passionate. To have such a pro-business President is something that is a real asset for the country. People can really grab that opportunity. He loves to build I don't think there's any surprises here. When you look at the president he wants to build things. He wants to build things he wants to make bold decisions and be really decisive. I'm a big fan of people that operate in the world of publish and iterate versus think, think, think, think, think. So there's a lot that I respect there." 

Okay, you've just read his comments in their entirety. 

Is there anything remotely controversial here? I mean, even Trump's most ardent critics would have to acknowledge that Trump is "passionate" "pro-business,"loves to build" and "wants to build things." You may not agree with everything he does, but Trump also makes "bold decisions" and is "really decisive." Trump is also someone who spends more time acting than he does thinking. All of these comments could be made by someone who either loves or hates Donald Trump.

Indeed, Plank's experience with Donald Trump in his capacity as one of 28 members of the president's manufacturing council is pretty much exactly what you'd expect him to say.

What's more, maybe this is old fashioned, but even though I didn't vote for Donald Trump, if he asked me to serve in any capacity on any group or council I'd do it. That's because Donald Trump is my president just like he's your president. If he succeeds the country succeeds, if he doesn't succeed the country doesn't succeed. I don't root for any president to fail because I don't want our country to fail. 

It sounds like Under Armour's CEO feels pretty much the same way as I do.

So how did these comments turn into a controversy? Because click bait headline artists decided to take the "real asset for the country" line and turn it into a full throated endorsement of Donald Trump. Of course, if you read the full sentence or, God forbid, the entire paragraph, you'd see that it says: "To have such a pro-business President is something that is a real asset for the country." 

Does anyone who isn't a Marxist really disagree with this? Are there tons of people out there who want an anti-business president?

But people on the left and the right are too dumb to read entire statements today so this turned into a huge controversy that required, and I can't believe this is true, comments from Under Armour endorser Steph Curry. Did he agree with the CEO's comments? (Who, by the way, assumes that everyone agrees with everything that someone else says? I don't even speak for my house. My wife disagrees with at least half of everything I say or do. As, I would imagine, does Steph's wife. If married men and women don't even speak with a unified voice for their households, why do we think that endorsers are going to agree with everything their bosses say? This is one of the most absurd conceits that has come to exist in modern media, the idea that if you don't say otherwise you agree with everything else someone sasys.) Moreover, what does Steph even disagree with about Plank's statements? Does he not think Trump wants to build things? Does he not think that Trump is bold and decisive? Does he not think that having a pro-business president is an asset to the country?

All of those opinions would be more controversial than anything Plank said.

Yet, somehow, Steph Curry managed to disagree with comments that it's pretty much impossible to disagree with. Welcome to the modern American sports media and to something that's becoming all too routine -- athletes with no particular understanding of politics commenting on politics. It used to be that sports was an escape from politics. No longer. The liberal sports media is so thirsty for athletes to rip Trump and "take a stand," that they never actually point out how dumb most athletes sound when they make these political comments. 

Unlike in, say, Hollywood, where everyone has grown used to uniformed celebrities taking cliched political stances and the media mostly ignores these comments, athletes taking political stances is the new hotness. Particularly when the liberal sports media members can goad them down the uninformed political path with questions like the ones from the Mercury News. Seriously, when you read Steph Curry's comments, he just sounds so out of his depth it's uncomfortable. 

Of course the interview is preceded by this laudatory language:

"So to hear him (Steph Curry) speak frankly in response to Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's comments praising Donald Trump was a step forward for the mega star. To learn of his sense his urgency to get a full grasp on Plank's comments, and whether the Under Armour mission had changed, revealed a more bold Curry. One who is more willing to wield his power. One who is impacted by the modern political climate and is choosing sides."

Are you fucking kidding me with all this? Where did Plank praise Trump? What remote idea could you possibly get that the Under Armour mission had changed? The mission is the same as it was yesterday, to make money.

Jesus. It's all just a made up story, this is fake sports news with a political twist. The left wing is mad at the right wing for fake news, but I'm mad at both of you, the left and the right, because you both make a living making up stories about each other. 

Like this one. 

This is fake sports news. 

All I needed to know about Steph Curry came in these two answers: "I definitely spent all day yesterday on the phone with countless people at Under Armour, countless people at Kevin Plank's camp, my team, trying to understand what was going on and where everybody stood on the issue."

You spent all day on the phone to understand a paragraph that you could watch on video? Or read the excerpts of on your iPhone? All day? Do you have the intelligence of a particularly daft snail? It took me 30 seconds to read these comments and understand exactly what Kevin Plank meant. Come on, bro, you went to Davidson, you can't be this dumb. 

The only way to explain Curry's responses here is if he didn't actually read the quotes and just looked at the headlines or read his Twitter mentions. Because Curry could have defused this entire story by saying, "I read the comments and I think it's clear to anyone who did so that Kevin Plank is doing his best to bring more jobs to America. He doesn't have a political role on the president's manufacturing committee and his comments weren't political. Shame on the media for trying to use these quotes to pit all of us against each other. I think there's lots of good people who voted for Hillary Clinton and lots of good people who voted for Donald Trump and I'm tired of the perpetual quest to divide us with made up conflict."

Bang. 

If Curry had said that I'd be praising him today for showing uncommon intelligence and thinking for himself. 

Instead, Curry showed us how little time he actually spends thinking. Indeed, Curry said he got his political information from, wait for it, Shaun King.

Really. 

You know, the white dude who pretends to be black and spends all day posturing on social media about the latest (mostly made up) Internet injustice that he "uncovers." Quoth Curry: "I'm never going to be the guy thats out front and center. But conversations that I've had with guys like Shaun King...understand what's going on and the temperature going around and I'm plugged in the way I need to be."

There really is no hope for us if Steph Curry is getting his news from Shaun King, a fake black guy on the Internet, Rachel Dolezal without the credibility.

Moreover, the liberal sports media is creating these stories based on the way the questions are framed and asked. These were the questions that Curry was asked in this interview in the order they were asked. Look how thirsty they are for controversy and filled with the writers own preexisting political opinions:

"Were you happy to see him (Plank) clarify his statements? Did you demand that?"

Did he demand it? Good lord. 

"Does it bother you that again you have to explain your stance because of what someone else said?"

The only reason Curry has to explain his stance is because you assumed his opinion was the exact same as his boss. Again, why do we assume this at all?

"Would you be willing to leave an endorsement if it were not in alignment with your stances and beliefs?

Just stop. 

"So when you saw the comments from Plank, did you think, 'I may have to leave Under Armour'?"

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Leave Under Armour because of these comments? Do you know how scary this is if you follow it to its logical conclusion? If someoone says something I don't like, I'm not going to do business with them anymore?

"Is having ties to Trump an automatic deal breaker?

So now you can't work with someone who has ties to Donald Trump? Again, are you kidding me? This is left wing McCarthyism. Half the country voted for Donald Trump. And now you're not supposed to work with people who did?

Hell, my wife voted for Hillary Clinton. Am I not supposed to sleep with her now? (That's rhetorical. My wife is hot. I'd still sleep with her if she wrote in Idi Amin's name on her ballot). 

"I know you aren't overtly political. Is the current climate making you political?"

What current climate? The one where the Democrats lost an election? The only reason the current political climate is so overcharged is because so many people spend all day sitting on Twitter getting mad at each other.  

I swear to God, I feel like I'm the only sane person left in America today.

Can we please stop with the fake sports news?

Or at least if we're going to make up fake sports news can it at least be entertaining? Like that story about LeBron James's mom banging Delonte West and that being why the Cavs sucked against Boston.  

You know it's an upside down world when Outkick has somehow become the most trusted source for news in the country.

Yep, I'm the new Walter Cronkite, go pray for the country.