President Trump attacked LeBron James in a late-night tweet Friday after the NBA star considered whether he’d run for president if no other candidate had the potential of beating Trump, and criticized the president for using sports to wedge a divide between Americans.
“Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!” Trump said, possibly referring to Michael Jordan at the end of of his tweet.
Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018
CNN host Don Lemon asked James in a previously taped interview if he would ever run for office.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I sit here and say, ‘I don’t think so.’ I don’t know,” James responded.
“I’m being serious,” Lemon said. “If someone tried to recruit LeBron to run for president, they said, ‘Listen, they’ve got no one. If you don’t run, Trump’s going to win.’ Would you run?”
“Well in that case, I may,” James said. “If they have no one — I believe there’s some people out there, I hope. But let’s see. Let’s see first.”
James also said he thinks Trump is using sports and athletes to divide the country. Trump has called on the NFL to punish players who kneel during the national anthem from the league.
“What I’ve noticed over the past few months, he’s kinda used sports to kinda divide us, and that’s something that I can’t relate to,” he said.
He continued: “Sports was the first time I was ever around someone white. I got an opportunity to see them and learn about them, and they got the opportunity to learn about me … And I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is all because of sports.'”
