NBA Superstar LeBron James thinks President Donald Trump is using sports to cause rifts in the nation, he told CNN’s Don Lemon on Monday.
“What I’ve noticed over the past few months [is] he’s [kind of] used sports to…divide us, and that’s something that I can’t relate to,” he said.
LeBron James (@KingJames) says Trump's trying to use sport to divide people, but he believes it brings people together. He sits down with @donlemon at the opening of his new elementary school for at-risk children in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Watch 10pET https://t.co/koTK4RarqE pic.twitter.com/CQYsTz2Fzl
— CNN (@CNN) July 30, 2018
Trump has been an outspoken critic of athletes since taking political office.
He criticized NFL players saying that team owners should fire any player who sat during the national anthem.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a b*tch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired,” Trump said in September 2017.
Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry said that he would not visit the White House following his team’s win at last year NBA Finals, prompting Trump to withdraw his invitation.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911572182060453893
James, who opened up a new school in his hometown of Akron, Ohio for at-risk children, said that he can’t sit back and not speak up.
“I can’t sit back and say nothing,” said James.