Tennessee lawmaker calls out Muhammad Ali on Twitter hours after his death

<p>Early Sunday, <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/739375193647353857" target="_blank">Piers Morgan tweeted</a> that Muhammad Ali made more controversial comments than Donald Trump. </p><p>Ali died over the weekend, and, unsurprisingly, fans were quick to come to the former heavyweight boxing champion's defense.</p><p>Morgan first questioned why there was so much controversy over his tweet. He later sort of apologized, writing: "I'm sorry for 'saying inflammatory things for attention'. That's the last thing Muhammad Ali would have condoned."</p><p>Ali was well-known for his social activism but did say some controversial things — inside and outside the ring.</p><p>He once called his opponent Joe Frazier an "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/08/muhammad-ali-joe-frazier" target="_blank">Uncle Tom</a>" and said he worked "for the enemy." He also said Frazier was "so ugly, blind men go the other way."</p><p>Of course, Frazier was brash, too, saying, "If we were twins in the belly of our mama, I'd reach over and strangle him."</p><p>Ali also talked very candidly about race.</p><p>During a BBC interview, Ali said, "And I'm sure no intelligent white person watching this show ... want black boys and black girls marrying their white sons and daughters."</p><p>And in 1967, when Ali famously refused to serve in the Vietnam War, he said: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with those Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me n-----."</p><p>As for Morgan, he's kind of known for stirring up controversy.</p><p>In April, he wrote an opinion piece of Beyonce´'s latest album, Lemonade, in <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3557867/PIERS-MORGAN-Jay-Z-s-not-one-needs-nervous-Beyonce-born-black-woman-political-mission.html#article-3557867" target="_blank">the Daily Mail</a> calling her a "militant activist" and saying she exploited mothers whose sons were shot by police. </p><p><i>This video includes clips from </i><i><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36450998" target="_blank">BBC</a></i><i> and images from Getty Images, </i><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Joe_Frazier#/media/File:Joe_Frazier_in_Amsterdam.jpg" target="_blank">Dutch National Archives</a></i><i>, </i><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AliFrazierFightOfTheCentury.jpg" target="_blank">Lorenzo9378 / CC BY SA 4.0</a></i><i> and </i><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muhammad_Ali_visits_Washington.jpg" target="_blank">Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums</a></i><i>. </i></p>