President Trump's "racist" tweet about LeBron James backfires, sees criticism from all sides

The president went after the king of basketball after watching an interview about his new school for poor children

Published August 4, 2018 10:11AM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

President Donald Trump faced swift backlash Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday for an ill-advised tweet some are calling racist.

Trump evidently spent much of his Friday night catching up on television, including a days old CNN interview with LeBron James. Apparently, the president did not like what he saw. During the interview, James told CNN's Don Lemon that Trump was using sports to divide the country. The president, unable to let criticism slide, compulsively went after James and Lemon on Twitter.

Trump using his Twitter platform to attack his perceived enemies is nothing new. Suggesting that two accomplished black men are not smart is not surprising either. Trump frequently hits his black critics, such as Rep. Maxine Waters, by saying they have "low IQ." His tweet Friday night continued that trend. And everyone noticed. From political journalists and commentators to sports reporters and athletes, Trump felt an explosion of anger from critics.

Even frequent Trump apologists found the president's tweet vacuous and damaging to the White House.

As a rule of thumb, vilifying someone who recently opened a school for underprivileged children is not exactly good politics. To make matters worse, there is a special election in Ohio on Tuesday for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. James is not some obscure basketball player in the state of Ohio. Akron born and raised, James has been credited for bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars to the Ohio economy.

Trump confirmed that he will by flying to Ohio on Saturday to rally for the GOP candidate in the race. When the weekend's over, the president will have likely done more harm than good for the Republican Party.

Watch the interview Trump disapproved of below:


By Taylor Link

MORE FROM Taylor Link


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Don Lemon Donald Trump Lebron James Nba Racism Sports Twitter