LeBron James doesn’t seem too concerned about Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s dog-whistle-y criticism of his comments about Donald Trump. The Fox News correspondent told James to “shut up and dribble,” among other things, on Thursday night after an Uninterrupted video showed him making comments that were critical of Donald Trump.
James said, among other things, that the president “doesn’t give f*ck about the people” he governs. It drew criticism from the conservative host on Thursday night, which in turn drew outrage from many in the basketball community, including former teammate Dwyane Wade.
They use to try and hide it.. now the president has given everyone the courage to live their truths. https://t.co/OwLSMHIG0m
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) February 16, 2018
James has not responded to Ingraham specifically, but you could certain argue he used his Instagram Story to address the issue on Friday morning. James posted a picture of him living it up in a pool somewhere in Los Angeles, where he’s preparing for NBA All-Star Weekend as a team captain.
LeBron’s IG just went to an entire new level this morning my god 😂 pic.twitter.com/nz95FVzGTW
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) February 16, 2018
I wouldn’t classify this response as a surprise given that James knew exactly what he was doing when he said Trump didn’t care about the people he was elected to represent. In fact, if you look at the video beyond the small snippet Ingraham singled out and criticized, it’s clear that James knows exactly what he’s doing and what he said.
James has shown time and time again that he understands the power of his voice as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. He spoke in the video about the three people who influenced him when he was growing up: the president, the best athlete and the best musician in America.
Today, LeBron James is very clearly the second of those three things. He’s the most visible athlete in America, and one of the most recognizable figures in the world. That’s not something he takes lightly, and he knew what he was doing when he let that video out into the public. Criticism of him for that, especially ignorant criticism from a talking head, isn’t going to slow down his fun this All-Star weekend.
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