US soccer star Michael Bradley slams Trump in wake of protests: 'There isn't a moral bone in his body'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michael Bradley, a staple on the U.S. men’s soccer team and a member of Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, slammed President Trump on Thursday over his leadership.
Bradley, 32, told reporters during a conference call the president has shown “zero leadership” as protests spread across the U.S. against police brutality and racism in wake of the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died in police custody May 25 after an officer kneeled on his neck for more than 8 minutes in a moment caught on cellphone video.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We have a president who is completely empty. There isn’t a moral bone in his body,” the 32-year-old pro soccer veteran said, according to NBC Sports. “There’s no leadership. There’s no leadership from the president, there’s no leadership from the Republican senators who have sat back and been totally complicit in everything he’s done for the last three-and-a-half years.
“I just hope that people are able to go to the polls in November and think about more than just what is good for them, more than what is good for their own status, their own business, their own tax return. I hope that people can go to the polls and understand that in so many ways, the future of our country and the future of our democracy is at stake.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We need as many people as possible to understand that at a real level, to think about what four more years with Trump as president, what that would mean, how terrible that would be for so many people. If we want any chance to start to fix those things, then Trump can’t be president, it’s as simple as that.”
Bradley was asked about the Black Lives Matter movement and the Floyd protests. He said he was “horrified, angry, disgusted and embarrassed” about living in a world where African Americans fear for their lives day after day. He said there has to be a way to tackle things head-on.
“I have strong feelings on this. I can’t pretend to know everything, and I could never begin to understand what it’s truly like for black families, but I want to understand more, I need to understand more, I need to listen, I need to read, I need to educate myself more.”
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Bradley has played for the U.S. national team since 2006. He started on the U17 squad in 2002. He was named the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2015.
His pro soccer career started in MLS with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 2004. He’s since played the Netherlands’ Eredivisie, Bundesliga, English Premier League, Serie B and Serie A before joining Toronto FC in 2014.