LeBron James Dismisses Donald Trump As ‘That Guy,’ Says Ohio Trump Voters Were ‘Uneducated’
National Basketball Association superstar LeBron James, who made national headlines over the weekend with a tweet referring to Donald Trump as a “bum,” continued his attacks on Trump Monday morning at a “media day” press conference held by his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the press conference, the 32-year-old star now entering his 15th NBA season referred to Trump as “that guy” and said that voters who cast their ballots for Trump “made a mistake.” He also said that Trump “doesn’t care” about racial issues in America — and said that voters in his home state of Ohio where Trump topped Democrat Hillary Clinton in last November’s election by 8.1 percentage points, had made a choice that he described as “uneducated.”
“If you voted for him or not, you may have made a mistake, and that’s okay,” James said at the media day. “If you voted for him, it’s okay. I mean I’ve done things for my kids and realized I shouldn’t have given my daughter that many damn Skittles. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. She won’t go to sleep now.”
The criticism of Trump by the NBA future Hall of Famer were ignited this weekend by a Trump tweet in which Trump declared the he would that an invitation for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors to visit the White House had been “withdrawn” because Warriors star Stephen Curry had “hesitated” to accept the invite.
Watch video of the Monday comments by LeBron James on Trump, below.
Responding to Trump’s tweet aimed at Curry and the Warriors, James tweeted, “U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!”
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017
Another excerpt from James’ Monday press conference can be viewed in the following video.
LeBron: “I’m not going to let — while I have this platform — one individual, no matter the power…ever use sport…to divide us.” pic.twitter.com/Y04gTGruk4
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 25, 2017
James also said that he does not believe that Trump cares about the racial divide in the United States.
“It’s the most powerful position in the world and we are at a time where the most powerful position in the world has an opportunity to bring us closer together as a people and inspire the youth and put the youth at ease on saying that it is okay for me to walk down the street and not be judged because of the color of my skin or because of my race,” James said.
“And he has no recollection of that. He doesn’t even care. Maybe he does. But he doesn’t care.”
James also responded to criticism of National Football League players who chose to kneel during the national anthem. Critics have said that the kneeling protest is an act of disrespect toward the U.S. military and the country’s flag, rather than a protest of racial injustice as the “Take a Knee” protests were originally intended.
“It’s not about disrespect for flag and military and people who served,” James said. “It’s about equality and having the option and freedom to speak about things they feel are unjust.”
Asked about why Trump had won a solid victory in Ohio, meaning that a large number of Cavalier fans likely voted for Trump, James said that they made a choice that he called possibly “uneducated.”
“Am I saying that the people of Ohio wasn’t educated? Am I saying some of the other states that voted for him was uneducated? They could have been, or they could not have been, but that doesn’t mean that it was the right choice,” the NBA superstar said.
Asked whether he stood behind his pointed tweet of Saturday, James said that he had no regrets about the tweet, explaining his choice of epithet by saying, “Me and my friends call each other that (i.e. ‘bum’) all the time.”
“I’m not his friend, though,” James quickly added. “He’s not my friend.”
[Featured Image by Ron Schwane/AP Images]
