Vexed by the President’s Demonstrations Towards Athletes, LeBron James Tweets Political Response
LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers went on Twitter to respond to President Donald Trump’s tweet, which rescinded The Golden State Warriors’ invitation to visit the White House.
On Saturday Sept. 23 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!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017
The President’s tweet came after Stephen Curry, basketball player for the Golden State Warriors and James’ rival on the court, said, “I don’t wanna go,” when asked about visiting the White House, a tradition for championship winning teams. In the tweet President Donald Trump wrote,
Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
LeBron went on to clarify what he meant in his tweet in a video posted by Uninterrupted later that day.
“[President Trump is] now using sports as the platform to try to divide us. We all know how much sports brings us together. [For] him to try to use his platform to divide us even more is not something I can stand for and it’s not something I can be quiet about,” he said in the video.
Here is the full video of James’ response to President Trump:
“It’s not about dividing. We as American people need to come together even stronger.” — @KingJames responds to @realDonaldTrump’s comments. pic.twitter.com/UHpzXpb42K
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) September 23, 2017
This exchange between President Trump and James, also known as King James, had many people on Twitter heated. Several tweets referred to LeBron as being “the president now.”
How long to we have to wait until Lebron James is president? @KingJames
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) September 25, 2017
JoyAnn Reid, an anchor for MSNBC, also remarked on James’ tweet saying, Link to Tweet:
I can’t stop reading this tweet… https://t.co/N0ENqC5qIK
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) September 24, 2017
During the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Media Day, James’ further explained why he called President Trump a “bum.”
“[Trump] doesn’t understand the power that he has for being the leader of this beautiful country,” he said.
James went on to critique Trump’s platform abuse focusing some on how children look up to the president and how Trump “doesn’t care” to “inspire the youth” on important issues. James had no regrets about his tweet.
You can watch James’ full comments below:
Video provided by Cleveland.com
Once again LBJ has shown he can be fierce not only on the court but when it comes to putting people in their place when it’s deserved.