Kerr speaks out on Alabama senate selection, ‘decency needs to win out'

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OAKLAND -- Steve Kerr is not a frequent tweeter, and when the Warriors coach does engage on Twitter rarely is it related to basketball.

It wasn’t on Tuesday, either, when he posted a pair of two-word tweets that made it obvious he had taken a side in the highly publicized and very contentious Alabama senate race between Doug Jones of the Democratic party and Republican Roy Moore.

The first Kerr tweet: “Roll Tide.”

The second: “War Eagle.” 

Both came shortly after it was announced that Jones had won the election.

“I couldn’t resist,” Kerr said, before turning facetious. “It’s bowl season. I’m a big SEC football fan.”

Roll Tide is the slogan affiliated with University of Alabama sports, while War Eagle is affiliated with Auburn University, also in Alabama.

“Decency needs to win out,” he said. “This has nothing to do with party affiliation. We need high character people in our positions of leadership. And the more decisions like this we can make, where we choose character over party, we choose country over party, the better off we’re going to be.

“I was very pleased. It’s a good sign. As a country, we need to get away from the partisan divide and start focusing on just quality people, getting good people in positions of leadership. And iron out our difference and promote unity and not try to separate this country. It’s critical.”

President Donald Trump was in support of Moore despite credible allegations from numerous women, saying they were victims of sexual misconduct and assault when they were children. News reports out of Alabama indicated that Moore’s predilection was known by many and has been for years.

Jones, by contrast, was best known as the District Attorney who in the late 1990s successfully prosecuted two Ku Klux Klan members that participated in the bombing of a Birmingham church in 1963, an act of domestic terrorism that killed four black girls, none more than 14 years old.

“Today is a really important day,” Kerr said. “It’s all about high character and values and the way you treat people. I don’t care -- Democrat, Republican, Independent -- had we put a known pedophile in the senate, what would that have said about us?

“Let’s get to the point where this is all about us, and not them. It’s about leadership and character and morality. Let’s be better.”

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