Trump says he thinks LeBron James is ‘racist’
President Donald Trump discussed LeBron James and Michael Jordan when asked about the greatest NBA player.He highlighted his personal connection with Jordan, mentioning they play golf together, and suggested that James might be racist or at least does not like Trump, implying a bias. Trump also labeled james’s statements as divisive and racist, criticizing him for speaking out on social justice issues instead of focusing on basketball. The two have exchanged accusations of racism over the years, especially relating to James’s comments on police and social justice. James previously shared a photo criticizing a police officer involved in a shooting, and has called Trump racist multiple times, including during a 2018 press conference. Trump expressed his dislike for James’s activism, claiming it harms the NBA’s viewership. James recently signed with the philadelphia 76ers and announced he would be playing for them next season.
President Donald Trump cited LeBron James’s controversial past statements as he picked Michael Jordan when asked who the NBA’s greatest of all time is.
“Well, Michael Jordan is a guy that’s a friend of mine,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House on the day it was announced James had signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. “I play golf with him. He’s a really good guy, and I think LeBron is, maybe, he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump. I don’t know, but I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”
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James and Trump have called each other racist over the years, with the president making the same claim in 2021 after the NBA’s leading point scorer criticized the police officer accused of killing Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, in Columbus, Ohio.
“LeBron James should focus on basketball rather than presiding over the destruction of the NBA, which has just recorded the lowest television RATINGS, by far, in the long and distinguished history of the League,” Trump said in a statement at the time. “His RACIST rants are divisive, nasty, insulting, and demeaning. He may be a great basketball player, but he is doing nothing to bring our Country together!”
James had earlier shared a photo in a since-deleted post on X of Nicholas Reardon, the police officer who allegedly killed Bryant, with the caption: “you’re next #accountability.”
Likewise, James has said that Trump is racist multiple times, including in 2018 when he said during a press conference that “The guy in control has given people and racism, negative racism, an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear.”
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The small forward also described Trump as “a bum” that year during the president’s public spat with Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry.
James, 41, announced he would be playing for the Sixers next season after signing a two-year, $8 million deal.
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