U.S. President Donald Trump Lashes Out At NBA Star Lebron James, Gets Slammed Back

U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter just before midnight on Friday night to question the intelligence of CNN Presenter Don Lemon and guest LeBron James. The duo were on CNN to discuss James’ new school model for at-risk youth in the U.S.

Trump’s insults came after James criticized the president in the interview.  “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!” Trump tweeted, apparently referencing former NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

In his interview with Lemon, James spoke of sports as something that unites people, and added that the President was "using sports to kinda divide us". "What I noticed over the last few months that he's kind of used sport to kind of divide us, and that's something that I can't relate to. Because I know that sport was the first time I ever was around someone white," added James.

Trump has repeatedly and strongly criticised the National Football League (NFL) in particular for not punishing players who kneel during the national anthem in a form of protest.

Trump's attack on James has received widespread condemnation from NBA players, with athletes such as Stephen Curry expressing support for the Los Angeles Lakers star.

NAB legend Michael Jordan too publicly supported James.  Jordan offered his support. "I support LeBron James," Jordan said in a statement to the Associated Press news agency on Saturday. "He's doing an amazing job for his community."

James has previously criticised Trump on several occasions, publicly supporting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton before the 2016 election and calling the U.S. President a "bum" in September 2017, after Trump rescinded an invitation to the Golden State Warriors to visit the White House after winning the NBA title.

"Going to the White House was a great honour until you showed up!" James tweeted at the time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 05, 2018 08:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).