Auburn Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl Explains Why He Trusts President Trump Amid Tensions Between Israel, Iran

The coach applauded the president's "incredible instincts."

The eyes of the world are on the Middle East as things between Israel and Iran continue to escalate and debates rage over whether the United States should get involved. On Wednesday, Auburn Tigers men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl joined OutKick's Dan Dakich on the latest episode of Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich to discuss his view on the matter.

During the interview, Dakich asked Pearl — who is Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel — why people like Senator Bernie Sanders and other far-left progressives are so against anything and everything President Donald Trump does, even if that is potentially aiding one of our nation's greatest allies.

"Is it just as simple as people are saying, well, Democrats will oppose anything Donald Trump favors?" Dakich began, "It can't be that, can it?"

"It has to be," Pearl said. "It has to be, mostly that. It has to be the Trump derangement syndrome."

He went on to explain that in the past, there was a majority and a minority when it came to opinions on an issue. Now, that has morphed into "majority" and "opposition," and that the Democrats have moved much further left on the political spectrum.

"I don't think the Republicans have gone much further to the right; I disagree with that," Pearl said. "I think they're still center-right. The Democrats have gone way overhead to the left. So I get the Bernie Sanders thing."

Pearl Explains Republican Opposition To Middle East Intervention And Why He Trusts President Trump

While Democrats being against the president is pretty straightforward; some Republicans being against intervention in the Middle East is a bit more complicated.

"There were two reasons why I think some Republicans are having some discussions about not being 100 percent supportive of the United States stepping in," he said. "First of all, number one, there are people that truly do believe that they don't, they don't want to get involved, because they don't, they don't want to start wars."

Pearl also noted that no one wants to send their sons or daughters overseas to fight in a war. He then said that the second reason Republicans aren't supportive has to do with the deficit.

"You have another element, and it's a larger element in the Republican Party that are trying to bring the deficit down, and I get that," he said. "And so they're sitting there going, 'Look, we spent all this money in Ukraine. We're spending all this money right now in the Middle East.'"

Pearl made an analogy to NIL in college basketball that spending a lot on NIL and not getting anything in return — like Indiana has — is frustrating, while spending a lot on NIL and seeing results — like Auburn — would be seen as a good investment.

"Israel is a good investment," he said. "It's our greatest ally. The things that they're able to do for us, technologically, (with) AI, militarily; it's unbelievable. The return on investment and they have kept a nuclear weapon away from Iran."

Pearl then said that as far as his take on the matter, he trusts President Trump's judgment on what will be best for the United States and its allies.

"He's got incredible instincts, like instincts that I think historically will be down as one of the greatest leaders in the history of the world," Pearl said. "That's a strong statement… I think the vast majority of it is incredibly calculated. Every now and then, it may be a little bit off the cuff, but I trust him."