'LeBron James sucks' chants break out at Trump rally in Pennsylvania
The Lakers superstar had previously said he wasn't interested in a tit-for-tat with the president
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump is hoping the American people can come together to give him a second term in the White House but at one of his last rallies before Election Day the topic turned to LeBron James.
As the president railed against the NBA and the NFL for allowing players to kneel during the anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality on Monday in Pennsylvania, the crowd began chanting “LeBron James sucks."
LEBRON JAMES UNINTERESTED IN TRUMP SPAT: 'I DAMN SURE WON’T GO BACK AND FORTH WITH THAT GUY'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“How about basketball? How about LeBron? I felt badly for LeBron. I felt very badly. Down 71% and that's for their championship -- I didn't want to watch one shot,” Trump said, mentioning the ratings.
“When they don't respect our country, when they don't respect our flag, nobody wants to watch. Nobody!” he said.
While Trump tried to return focus to the NFL, the chants broke out.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LEBRON JAMES TAKES SHOT AT TRUMP DURING PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
James, who helped build a school in his native Akron, Ohio, launched the More Than a Vote campaign and has been a supporter of social justice activism (though he has remained relatively quiet when it came to human rights issues in Hong Kong and China), has been a longtime critic of Trump.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar stumped for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and expressed support for the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. He said last month he wasn’t interested in getting into a tit-for-tat with the president.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I define success by our people going out and voting,” he told The New York Times.
“You know, there’s so many stats out there, you can see it every time. Who didn’t vote? What counties didn’t vote? What communities didn’t vote? And a lot of that has had to do with our Black people. So, hopefully, we can get them out and educated and let them understand how important this moment is.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I don’t go back and forth with anybody. And I damn sure won’t go back and forth with that guy. But we want better, we want change in our community. We always talk about, ‘We want change,’ and now we have the opportunity to do that.”
James has been active in getting people registered to vote. According to the Times, James’ final push in the days leading up to the election with his More Than a Vote group is to help combat misinformation to younger Black voters.