Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Republicans are showing how a party shouldn’t choose a nominee

24 August 2023

On Wednesday night, August 23, two separate events competed for the attention of Americans who are following the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

One was a GOP debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee and featuring eight of the candidates. Frontrunner Donald Trump wasn't among them; the former president skipped the debate and trolled Fox News via an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson that was played online.

Basketball icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar analyzes the debaters' performance in an op-ed published by the Daily Beast on August 24. The debate, according to the former Milwaukee Bucks/Los Angeles Lakers champion, often underscored problems with the 2024 GOP presidential primary field.

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"I approach the debates as I used to a Muhammad Ali fight," Abdul-Jabbar explains. "There are three parts: the hype, the fight, the spin…. But the debates aren't about helping the undecided rationally choose a candidate. They are about the candidates getting a national stage to promote themselves."

Abdul-Jabbar goes on to give the debaters a score based on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being best. And he is kinder to some candidates than others.

Abdul-Jabbar, now 76, gives ultra-MAGA businessman Vivek Ramanswamy a 1, slamming him as having "no political experience and no substance." And he is only slightly kinder to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he compares to a "bully" who "spoke in bursts of anger." Abdul-Jabbar also gives a 2 to Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Meanwhile, Abdul-Jabbar gives former Vice President Mike Pence a 5, noting that he "showed a lot more spunk than ever before" but criticizing him for proposing a national abortion ban.

But Abdul-Jabbar gives an 8 out of 10 to two ex-governors: South Carolina's Nikki Haley and New Jersey's Chris Christie, noting that Christie was willing to hold "his ground" even though "his criticism of Trump had the crowd against him all night." And he points out that Haley "blamed Republicans in Congress for spending too much."

Read Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's full Daily Beast op-ed at this link (subscription required).

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