President Donald Trump started off the political firestorm last Friday when he harshly condemned those who kneel for the national anthem. Trump’s comment led to mass protests throughout the NFL this weekend. The protests of the national anthem have also now bled into other sports. Both Major League Baseball and the NHL have seen anthem protests as a response to Trump.
The protest has also reached the NBA and some of its superstar players. One of those players is Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, who gave a lengthy press conference Monday about his feelings toward Trump.
James was saddened by Trump’s use of the office to critique the sports world and was offended, calling the president a “bum” on Twitter, USA Today reported.
However, one of the most interesting responses James gave was to a question about his fan base. AD Ads by Revcontent
A reporter asked how he could criticize Trump when Ohio, his home state and the location of his current team, voted to help put Trump into office. James’s response to the question is being seen by some as deeply disrespectful.
James took the opportunity to seemingly attack the “education” of Trump voters, calling some “uneducated” and claiming they did not understand “what’s actually going on in the state of the world right now.” The comments were rambling, so we have transcribed the full answer below (emphasis added):
“I don’t think a lot of people was educated. And I think that’s one of the biggest problems that we have when it becomes vote time. People are just not educated, on either the individual or what’s actually going on in the state of the world right now. Not that particular state, but the state of the world.
I don’t think a lot of people are educated, and they make choices and say things that’s uneducated. Am I saying that the people of Ohio wasn’t educated? Am I saying that some of the other states that voted for [Trump] was uneducated? They could have been, or they could not have been. But that doesn’t mean it was the right choice.”
The comments have created a firestorm for James, particularly with his fan base in Ohio.
Writing on the comments at Hot Air, Allahpundit comes in pretty hot.
To cleanse the palate, I think he means “education” in terms of civic education, i.e. familiarity with policy and the candidates’ backgrounds, not grade-level achieved. It’d be weird if he didn’t since James himself famously skipped college after being drafted number one out of high school. Still, how often do you get to watch a mega-star athlete call the voters of his home state ignorant? This’ll be an interesting test to see if there’s anything Ohio’s favorite son can say or do to piss off his fans. Besides committing to play for another team at the end of a one-hour special devoted to his free agency, I mean.
Ouch.
Watch the video below.
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