On Friday (Oct. 9), Donald Trump criticized LeBron James during an interview on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.
Trump had some choice words for the Los Angeles Laker superstar for speaking out against his presidency and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. “The NBA has become so political that nobody cares about it anymore,” he said.
“LeBron is a spokesman for the Democratic party and a very nasty spokesman,” he reportedly said. “I don’t know him, I never met him. Because, again, I’ve done so much for the Black community and people don’t wanna see that and he’s a great basketball player, but people don’t want to see a guy that’s that way. They don’t want to see that. … He’s a hater. You don’t want to sit down, watch a basketball game, and then watch somebody that hates your guts, okay.”
This isn’t the first time the two have clashed. Back in August, Trump said that he would not watch NBA games as long as players kneeled during the National Anthem. He said that the peaceful protest was “not acceptable” and that no one — aside from Abraham Lincoln — has done more for the Black community than he has.
Reporters asked James about his thoughts on Trump’s previous comments. “Are you trying to make me laugh right now?” James asked the reporters.
“I really don’t think the basketball community [is] sad about losing his viewership, him viewing the game,” the NBA star said. “And that’s all I got to say.”
James said he didn’t want to get too focused on his thoughts on Trump. He instead used that time to encourage people to vote in November. “I hope everyone, no matter the race, no matter the color, no matter their sides, see what leadership that we have at the top of our country and understand that November is right around the corner, and it’s a big moment for us as Americans,” he said.
James added, “If we continue to talk about what we want better, we want change, we have an opportunity to do that. But the game will go on without his eyes on it. I can sit here and speak for all of us that love the game of basketball. We [couldn’t] care less.”