LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers basketball superstar blasted President Donald Trump on Monday night for escalating racial tensions.
“I believe our president is kind of trying to divide us,” James, who is also a philanthropist, said in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon.
“He’s kind of used sport to… divide us and that’s something I can’t relate to, because I know that sport was the first time I ever was around someone white. You know?” the bearded and bespectacled James said.
Trump has repeatedly criticized National Football League players who kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, a protest begun by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016.
The 33-year-old mega superstar has been vocal with his support for the kneeling players and expressed criticism of Trump.
He told his CNN interviewer that he “can’t sit back and not say nothing” in the face of Trump’s attempts at discord.
James noted that even the most successful African-Americans face discriminatory attitudes.
“They always going to let you know that you are the n-word no matter who you are,” he said.
“I think it’s always been there. But I think the president in charge now has given people — they don’t care now, they throw it to your face.”
James was asked what he would say to Trump if he could sit across from the president.
“I would never sit across from him,” James replied. “I’d sit across from Barack, though,” he said of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, the first African-American president.
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