Misty Copeland is the latest Under Armour athlete to come out against Kevin Plank's support of Trump
Plank was highly complimentary of Trump in an interview on Tuesday with CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report," saying "to have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country."
Copeland, a world-class ballet dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, responded to those comments, saying she spoke at length with Plank and "strongly disagrees" with his comments.
"I strongly disagree with Kevin Plank's recent comments in support of Trump as recently reported," Copeland wrote. "The one topic I've never backed away from speaking openly about is the importance of diversity and inclusion. It is imperative to me that my partners and sponsors share this belief."
She then seemed to demand Plank make some sort of public comment supporting diversity and inclusion.
"As someone who takes my responsibility as a role model very seriously, it is important to me that he, and UA, take public action to clearly communicate and reflect our common values in order for us to effectively continue to work towards our shared goal of trying to motivate ALL people to be their best selves."
These comments come one day after Curry sarcastically agreed with Plank's assessment of Trump as an "asset" to the country.
"I agree with that description," Curry said, "if you remove the 'et' from asset."
Curry told The Mercury News that he spent most of Tuesday on the phone with Plank and others at Under Armour. Plank explained to Curry, according to The Mercury News, that the comments on Trump were meant "exclusively from a business perspective."
At least one Under Armour athlete has sided with Plank. In an interview with the Sporting News, Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore said he had similar thoughts about Trump winning the presidency.
"That's kind of what my thoughts were when he won the presidency," Bazemore said. "Have a businessman in office, because that's the way the world's trending ... We've been living some stuff that's been written for 200-300 years. The world has changed. The world has gotten a little smarter. It's good that we have somebody that's hip in that aspect to try to change it."
as someone who takes my responsibility as a role model very seriously, it is important to me that he, and UA, take public action to clearly communicate and reflect our common values in order for us to effectively continue to work towards our shared goal of trying to motivate ALL people to be their best selves.