BTR News – President Donald Trump gave what seemed like a random press briefing whereas reporters tossed out a myriad of questions. One of the questions seemed rather odd and raised a few eyebrows if not a chuckle and a smile from Donald Trump when asked if was considering pardoning “O.J”. Of course, O.J is most known among Americans for the murder trial of his wife and her alleged boyfriend where he was acquited. The TMZ like question could only be referring to O. J. Simpson’s conviction that came about from a Las Vegas incident where OJ basically said he was reclaiming my stuff.
More strangely perhaps is that Muhammad Ali, the deceased athlete Donald Trump stated he was considering a posthumous pardon for stating Ali was treated “very unfairly” and one can agree with that statement, the fact remains that Ali’s conviction on refusing to be drafted by the US military to serve in the War on Vietnam was overturned thus raising questions about Trump’s knowledge of US history.
Muhammad Ali was an iconic 3-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world but his most important fight occurred in American courtrooms as he took on the U.S. government in refusing the Vietnam Draft albeit on religious grounds in court. When questioned by reporters in the public, Ali famously raised the issue of racism involving the n-word.
Trump not being briefed on the fact that Ali does not need a pardon raises questions about the competency of his staff but it also raises personal questions about Trump and can make one wonder “how much time has Donald Trump spent in the last six decades reading about U.S history”. Afterall, Trump currently serves as the Cheif Executive Officer of the United States of America Inc/ and should he not be expected to comment accurately on U.S. History, especially if commenting publicly?
A few days ago, Trump caught some flak in the media for apparently not knowing the United States military forces were fighting the British Crown and not “Canada” during the War of 1812 which was a much longer time ago than when Muhammad Ali made his stand against the US military. The country that we refer to today as “Canada” did not exist in 1812 and the land mass that is known today as Canada was at that time in the early 1800s, was split in half and were colonized by Britain and France.
Ali’s famous case began 51 yrs ago in 1967 when Donald J. Trump would have been a young man in his twenties to witness Ali’s historic stance which we’re pretty sure dominated the news media in the late 60s and it is a shame he doesn’t seem to remember it nor state it accurately. It seems a petty complaint and it does give us a chance to debate US history among ourselves but its still not acceptable for any U.S. President to not be able to provide accurate information concerning US history.
Black Talk Media Project founder Scotty Reid is the host of BTR News and New Abolitionists Radio which he co-hosts. He has been hosting and producing news talk radio and podcasting since 2007 and has interviewed hundreds of guests on various topics. He is also a freelance writer who focuses on social and political issues from around the world and has been published by various outlets. Donate to BTMP!
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