In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, LeBron discussed his passion for sports and its ability to bring people of different backgrounds together. Trump’s use of sports to divide us got The Kang’s dander up:
“What I’ve noticed over the past few months,” James shared with CNN’s Don Lemon during a sit-down interview on Monday. “(Is) he’s kinda used sports to kinda divide us, and that’s something that I can’t relate to.”Referencing Colin Kaepernick, whose kneeling protests during the pre-game national anthem launched an NFL movement, and more recently, Stephen Curry, who honored his promise of skipping a visit to Donald Trump’s White House, James bemoaned a myriad of instances in which Trump has twisted peaceful displays of dissent into an indictment of a decaying American value system.“I can’t sit back and say nothing,” said James, who lists participating in youth athletics as one of the most inclusive experiences of his upbringing.“Sports was the first time I was ever around someone white,” revealed the four-time NBA MVP. “I got an opportunity to see them and learn about them, and they got the opportunity to learn about me … And I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is all because of sports.'”
The Kang could be right in some respects. The president targeted Colin Kaepernick and black professional athletes because he knew it would get a lot of attention from the media and his republican base. When Trump made the comments last year he had not accomplished much as president. His attempt to take down Obamacare was an epic fail. He finally got tax cuts passed months later, but they will most likely inure to the benefit of the wealthy and publicly-traded companies that will use the windfall to pay dividends and buy back stock.
The president needs to create jobs or his republican base may turn on him. Ralph Baker’s Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids From Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead predicted another recession. The flattening yield curve backs up Shock Exchange and Trump knows this. In between trying to convince the public the economy is strong, Trump is trying to rally his base by appealing to the country’s patriotism and making black athletes seem unpatriotic.
Trump And The Global Economy (“Trump And the GE”) headlined by Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal will cover these issues and more August 8th in Brooklyn. Mr. Baker will moderate the quarterly speaker series and we would love to have LeBron, Steph, Eric Reid, Trump and Kaepernick in attendance. This is the most-important and influential event on economics, social issues and how the president’s policies impact them. Will The Kang show up? Come find out.
