Melania Trump issues statement in support of LeBron James after president Trump insults him
First Lady Melania Trump issued a statement Saturday in support of LeBron James, after her husband President Trump posted a late-night tweet slamming the basketball superstar.
Trump took to Twitter and attacked James’s intelligence on Friday night after the NBA star told CNN anchor Don Lemon during an interview that he thought Trump was trying to divide the country by using sports as a wedge.
Trump wrote, “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon,” Trump wrote. “He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!”
According to reports, Trump had watched the rebroadcast of the interview, which originally aired Monday.
Lemon asked Lebron James questions about his time off the court, covering James’s newly completed I Promise School in Akron, a public and nonprofit partnership designed to help underprivileged kids in his hometown of Akron Ohio.
The newly minted Los Angeles Laker superstar, said the school opening made Monday to be one of the greatest moments of his life.
CNN Anchor Lemon also discussed politics with James, especially about Trump’s ongoing battle with Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who have knelt during the national anthem to protest police killings of black men.
“What I’ve noticed over the past few months,” James told Lemon, “is [Trump has] kinda used sports to kinda divide us, and that’s something that I can’t relate to.”
James has not commented on Trump’s tweet, but others have responded to the insulting tweet, including the first lady.
Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said, “It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation.” “And just as she always has, the First Lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today.”
Grisham added, the first lady supports “responsible online behavior” as part of her Be Best initiative, and said that Melania Trump would be open to visiting James’s new school.
Don Lemon also defended James and hinted to Be Best and took a jab at the president Saturday.
“Who’s the real dummy? A man who puts kids in classrooms or one who puts kids in cages?” Lemon tweeted and included #BeBest hashtag.
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Melania Trump wasn’t the only First Lady to respond in support of Lebron James. Former First Lady Hilary Clinton also tweeted about the issue on Saturday afternoon in which she said nice things about James for being “a great family man” and “incredible ballplayer” who “gives back to his community and isn’t afraid to speak his mind.”
The Lakers also released a statement in response to the president. Jeanie Buss, the team’s CEO and owner, called James “an incredibly thoughtful and intelligent leader.”
CNN’s public relations section also responded to president Trump's tweet on Saturday.
“Sounds like @FLOTUS had the remote last night. We hope you both saw the incredible work of @KingJames,” the network said. Like Lemon, they included a #BeBest hashtag.
Lebron James has not responded to Trump’s insulting tweet, but kept the focus on his school Saturday by posting a tweet with photos of smiling students.
James said, “Let’s get it kids!! Love you guys.”
My view: It's sad that Trump could go so low to insult a good human being, who is doing the right thing for the poor kids in his community. Maybe the president is still reeling from the shock of his behaving like a busboy to president Putin during their news conference, so he's now taking it out on a person according to him "isn't smart and maybe he thinks Lebron James weak that he can beat-up and he's not a threat like Putin, how sad is that,? I said it before that his wife Melania can't stand him, no wonder she sleeps in another room very far away from his, as she doesn't want to hear him snore. CNN should thank Trump for making them more popular all over the world.Pathetic Trump hates CNN and yet he watch the channel 24/7 more than Fox News and pretend to the world that Fox News is his favourite, while they're busy working hard to be his PR machine, Trump is busy watching CNN. I concur with Don Lemon that said ,"Who’s the real dummy? A man who puts kids in classrooms or one who puts kids in cages?." So true, a man who "grabs them by their p***y" and disrespects his gorgeous wife by paying other women to keep them quiet or a man who treats his cute wife like a queen and respects women, a man who scammed students millions through his fake Trump University or a man who actually used his own money to build a school for poor kids.? Donald Trump is a freaking lunatic. So who is smart and who is the Dummy, a man who gives to the poor or a greedy billionaire who scammed the less privileged.