Donald Trump’s obsession with LeBron James continues even after his presidency as No. 45 used James in an odd hyperbole to make a point about transgender athletes in sports.
He discussed LeBron James converting into a “woman.”
Donald Trump says he would ask LeBron James If he has any desire to be a woman so he could star on his women's basketball team 😳
— No Jumper (@nojumper) July 27, 2022
“I’ll tell you what if I ever ah-I’d be the greatest woman’s basketball coach in history because I don’t like LeBron James, I like Michael Jordan much better,” Trump said Saturday during his speech at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa. “But I’d go up to LeBron James, it doesn’t matter, and I’d 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 that I’m building up.
Trump performs expert nuanced virtue signaling by saying he likes Michael Jordan, a player well-known for never expressing social justice sentiment while playing, over LeBron James. The disgraced former President utilized LeBron to extend his opinion on transgender athletes, whom he has called for a ban from their ability to compete in sports.
Widely considered the best basketball player of his generation, LeBron is the first NBA player to become an actively playing billionaire. He and Trump have had a cantankerous relationship that was on full display during the protest movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
“LeBron, have you ever thought about becoming a woman?” 😂
– Donald Trump if he owned a WNBA team pic.twitter.com/zxj4DoLKS3— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) July 24, 2022
Trump has focused on outspoken athletes like Colin Kaepernick and LeBron James to stoke the embers of his support base and further polarize the country. However, the use of James to make points wholly unrelated to man makes people question his sanity.
“‘I will have the greatest team in history they’ll never lose. No one will come within seventy points of this team.’ Now we have to change that and we have to make it OK to talk about it. Do you know the young lady I was talking about is afraid to talk about it. She’s shunned and she’s cancelled when she talks about it.”
The commentary is nothing new. Back in January, Trump spoke at a rally in Florence, Arizona, where he targeted Democrats on transgender and abortion rights.
“We’re done taking lectures on science from a party that tells us men and women, women are men, and the babies… and this is a fact, the babies can be killed even after birth,” Trump said.
“They used to talk late-term, now they’re talking about… just go check out your governor of Virginia, your former governor of Virginia, and it’s all just fine with them, babies can be killed after birth.”
No talk show The Shop, LeBron James foi perguntado o motivo de não gostar de Boston, ao que respondeu: "Eles são racistas pra c****** e dirão qualquer coisa para atingir você. Mas não ligo. Se eu ouvir algo [da torcida], volto minha atenção para o jogo".pic.twitter.com/yrkTs6ZTsi
— BANDEJA (@canalbandeja) July 19, 2022
On a recent episode of James’ HBO celebrity-driven conversations show “The Shop,” discussed the hate he receives from Boston Celtics fans; he mentioned how contempt for him sometimes feels ubiquitous.
“‘Cause they racist as f**k, that’s why,” James said of Boston’s basketball fans. “They will say anything. And it’s fine. I mean f**k, it’s my life, f**k I’ve been dealing with it my whole life. I don’t mind it. I hear it. If I hear somebody close by, I check them real quick.”
James has probably heard Trump’s continued rhetoric, but it comes part and parcel with being the social justice-leaning face of the NBA.
