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LeBron James, arguably the most influential athlete in America, has launched another attack on Donald Trump as the Cleveland Cavaliers star spoke about the events in Charlottesville at the weekend.
On Saturday, an anti-fascist protestor was killed after a white nationalist allegedly drove his car deliberately into a crowd in Charlottesville. On Tuesday, Trump attracted criticism for defending some of the far-right factions involved in the violence, saying: “Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, not all of those people were white supremacists.”
On Tuesday night, James addressed the issue at an event for the LeBron James Family Foundation.
“I know there’s a lot of tragic things happening in Charlottesville,” James said. “I just want to speak on it right now. I have this platform and I’m somebody that has a voice of command and the only way for us to get better as a society and for us to get better as people is love. And that’s the only way we’re going to be able to conquer something as one. It’s not about the guy that’s the so-called president of the United States, or whatever the case.”
Earlier in the day, James had criticized the president in a Twitter post. “Hate has always existed in America,” he wrote. “Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again! Statues has nothing to do with us now!”
James is one of a number of athletes to have spoken about the violence over the weekend. The Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long, who is from Charlottesville, called the far-right protestors “man babies with torches”.
The Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett also referenced Charlottesville when he explained his decision to sit out the national anthem during a pre-season game on Sunday. “The last week, with everything that’s been going on in the last couple months – especially after the last couple days seeing everything in [Charlottesville] Virginia ... I just wanted to be able to continue to use my platform to be able to speak on injustice,” Bennett said.
James, a a three-time NBA champion and one of the greatest players of the modern era, has frequently spoken about social issues. Last year he appeared at the ESPYs and called for an end to gun violence and racial profiling, while in 2014 he appeared in an “I can’t breathe’ T-shirt to pay tribute to Eric Garner, who died after an encounter with New York police.
(THE GUARDIAN)
