LeBron James vs. Donald Trump: Looking back into the feud between the GOAT and the Ex-President
LeBron James was one of the critics of former United States President Donald Trump during his time at the White House. James endorsed Hillary Clinton back in 2016 when Trump won, as well as Joe Biden in 2020.
The feud between James and Trump started when Steph Curry rejected a White House visit after the Golden State Warriors won the 2017 NBA championship. Curry and the Warriors turned it down, which led to Trump rescinding the invitation.
"The King" backed his on-court rivals by calling the then-POTUS a "bum" in a post on social media.
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
LeBron James followed it up a year later with a scathing claim about Donald Trump in an interview with Kevin Durant and Cari Champion on UNINTERRUPTED.
"The No. 1 job in America, the appointed person, is someone who doesn't understand the people," James said. "And really don't give a f**k about the people. ... It's not even a surprise when he says something. It's laughable and it's scary."
Trump fired back at "The King" after the LA Lakers superstar opened his I Promise School and did an interview with CNN's Don Lemon. The former host of The Apprentice called out James and Lemon, while also praising Michael Jordan as the better basketball player.
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!
Fast forward to 2020 before Election Day, Trump was interviewed by Rush Limbaugh. The 45th US President called James a "hater" and claimed that no one watches the NBA anymore because they became "too political."
"The NBA has become so political that nobody cares about it anymore," Trump said. "People don’t wanna see a guy that way. They don’t want to see that. We have enough difficulty during the week, you don't wanna sit down watching a basketball game and then watch somebody that hates your guts, OK? He's a hater."
Trump ended up losing the presidency to Joe Biden, who was endorsed by James. However, it didn't stop the former president from throwing insults at the four-time NBA champion.
In a keynote speech at the America First Policy Institute Summit in Washington, D.C. last year, Trump invited James to play for his women's basketball team. He also praised Michael Jordan again as a shot at the Lakers superstar.
"I'd be the greatest women's basketball coach in history," Trump said. "I don't like LeBron James. I like Michael Jordan much better. But I'd go up to LeBron James and say, 'LeBron, did you ever have any desire to be a woman? Because what I'd love you to do is star on my team."
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LeBron James has not commented about Donald Trump since the Capitol attack
LeBron James has not discussed anything related to Donald Trump since the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol building. James doubled down on his take that there are "two Americas" while wearing a shirt with the message: "Do you understand now?"
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