NBA legend and writer/cultural critic Kareem Abdul-Jabber got a major laugh from the Democratic National Convention crowd with a dig at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the DNC in Philadelphia on Thursday (July 28) night.

"Hello, everyone--I'm Michael Jordan, and I'm here with Hillary," Kareem joked as the crowd laughed; then, without missing a beat, added: “I said that because I know Donald Trump couldn’t tell the difference.”

Jabbar also shared the story of Humayun Khan, an army captain who was among 14 American-Muslim soldiers who have died in combat while serving the United States since 9/11. Khan and his family visited the Jefferson Memorial when they first arrived in the U.S.from United Arab Emirates.

"The words engraved there read, 'I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal, hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man,'" said the Lakers legend. "Donald Trump's idea to register Muslims and prevent them from entering our country is the very tyranny Jefferson abhorred.

"In 1777, Jefferson drafted the Virginia statute for religious freedom, which later became a model for the First Amendment," continued Jabbar. "Today's so-called religious freedom acts, like the one signed by Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, are the opposite of what Jefferson wanted because they allow discrimination. And at its core, discrimination is a result of fear. Those who think Americans scare easily, enough to abandon our country's ideals for a false sense of security, underestimate our resolve. To them, we say only this: 'Not here, not ever.'"

The DNC has delivered several highlights thus far, most notably, President Barack Obama endorsing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton's personal paean to his wife and First Lady Michelle Obama's moving speech from the convention's first night.

"That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves," First Lady Obama stated. "And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn."

 

 

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