LeBron James has called out President Donald Trump for the way the way he says the commander-in-chief has used sports to break the nation apart.
“What I’ve noticed over the last few months [is] he’s kinda used sport to divide us and that’s something that I can’t relate to because I know that sport was the first time I was ever was around someone white. … Sports has never been something that divides people, it’s always been something that brings people together,” James tells CNN’s Don Lemon Monday, July 30.
At the 9:49 mark, Lemon asks James about how Trump has called out athletes like Steph Curry and Colin Kaepernick for refusing to visit the White House or kneeling during the national anthem. James says there are times when the president has used Black athletes as a scapegoat.
“I believe he uses anything that’s popular to try to negate people from thinking about the positive things that they can actually be doing and try to just to get our minds to not be as sharp as possible right then,” James says at the 11:16 mark. “You look at Kaepernick, who was protesting something he believed in and he did in the most calm, fashion way possible. Very respectful. He did all his due diligence. He was knowledgeable about it and everyone knew why he did it.”
As for the possibility of James, who has grown more political in recent years culminating with his critique earlier this year of Trump not caring about “the people”, running for office, the baller shot it down. However, when asked if he’d enter the presidential race if only Trump were an option, James gave it a second thought.
“Well, in that case, I may,” he said. “If they had no one, I mean, I believe there’s some people out there, I hope. Let’s see first. Let’s see first.”
But that doesn’t mean he’d be eager to have a chat with Trump face-to-face.
“I would never sit across from him,” James says. “I’d sit across from Barack [Obama], though.”
