'What bothers me is that he has time': LeBron James says of Trump taking shots on him
LeBron James has never been one to hold back his disapproval on the actions and remarks of President Donald Trump, and he criticized the president again in his most recent interview, expressing worry that the president can even find the time to take shots at him.
"What bothers me is that he has time to even do that," James told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Thursday. "Like, you really got this much time that you can comment on me?"
On Aug. 3, Trump appeared to make a dig at James' intelligence after CNN anchor Don Lemon interviewed him about a school he recently opened in Cleveland. In a tweet, Trump described Lemon as "the dumbest man on television" who "made Lebron look smart, which isn't easy to do."
James laughed when asked if it bothered him that Trump called him dumb, according to The Reporter.
"No, because I'm not," he says. "That's like somebody saying I can't play ball. That doesn't bother me at all."
The NBA star has a long history of railing against the president.
When Trump withdrew the Golden State Warriors' invitation to the White House in 2017 after point guard Stephen Curry said he would skip the traditional championship visit, James tweeted at the president, calling him a "bum" and highlighting that Curry "already said he ain't going!"
"Going to the White House was a great honor until you showed up!" James wrote.
During the NBA finals in June, James told reporters that neither team wanted to visit the White House.
"I mean, I know no matter who this series, no one's ... no one wants the invite anyway," he said.
In August 2017, after the Charlottesville protests turned violent, James tweeted that "hate has always existed in America," but "Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!"
James, who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, has also spoken out on Trump's immigration policies and rejected the characterization of Trump's comments to Billy Bush in the 2005 Access Hollywood video as "locker room talk."
"That's not locker room talk," James told reporters in October 2016. "That's trash talk."
James spoke to the reporter on his recent move to Los Angeles to join the Lakers roster and his role to 1990s hit "Space Jam."
