President Trump insults LeBron James’ intelligence

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LeBron James speaks at a news conference after the opening ceremony for the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, Monday, July 30, 2018. The I Promise School is supported by the The LeBron James Family Foundation and is run by the Akron Public Schools. (Phil Long/AP)

President Donald Trump got his Twitter fingers out late Friday night to take a shot at Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.

This is presumably in retaliation to James’ comments in a CNN interview with Don Lemon, during which he stated he would not sit across from Trump, but would sit across from former president Barack Obama. He also opined that the president was “using sports to kinda divide us.”

Trump’s tweet reads, “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!”

This reaction comes on the heels of the four-time MVP, three-time Finals MVP and NBPA first vice-president opening the I Promise School — supported by the LeBron James Foundation — to 240 at-risk kids.

The public school provides free tuition, uniforms, bicycles and helmets, transportation within two miles, breakfast, lunch, snacks, a food pantry for families, GEDs and job placement services for parents, and — last but not least — guaranteed tuition to the University of Akron for every student who graduates.

Tension between the basketball star and president has built up for some time now. James called Trump a “bum” after the president rescinded his invitation to the White House for Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry in 2017 after the former MVP said he wouldn’t go, despite the tradition of members of championship teams doing so.

Trump had no reaction to that tweet, and beat writer for Cleveland.com Joe Vardon — who has covered James extensively — suggested that the president choosing to respond on this occasion has some political reasoning.

He suggested that since James no longer resides or represents a swing state in Ohio and has moved to the state of California which is essentially a lost cause, Trump can say what he feels.

CNN’s Lemon and Don Rather have since responded to the inflammatory remarks by Trump, Rather calling the president a disgrace and Lemon questioning who the “real dummy” is.

Charlotte Hornets owner and basketball legend Michael Jordan also lent his support to LeBron, saying, “I support LJ. He’s doing an amazing job for his community,” in a statement, per Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

All-stars Bradley Beal and Karl-Anthony Towns were the first colleagues to react, before Donovan Mitchell and Curry also chimed in.

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