LeBron James officially endorses Biden after Trump rally attacks
James' endorsement was posted to Instagram hours after President Donald Trump dissed the NBA star.
NBA superstar LeBron James has officially endorsed Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris in the 2020 presidential election.
James’ endorsement was posted to Instagram just hours after President Donald Trump attacked him at a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ star player posted a photo of a watercolor painting depicting Biden and Harris adorned with one word: “United.”
“One more day. Please,” he wrote. “We need EVERYTHING to change and it all starts tomorrow,” James added the hashtags, #BidenHarris and #MoreThanAVote.
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During his rally in Scranton, Trump abruptly criticized James, saying, “How about basketball? How about Lebron? I felt badly for LeBron … I felt very badly. Down 71 percent, and that’s for their championship — I didn’t want to watch one shot.”
The president then accused James and other athletes of disrespecting the flag when they kneel.
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“When they don’t respect our country, when they don’t respect our flag, nobody wants to watch,” Trump said. “Nobody!”
The crowd of his supporters broke out into a chant: “LeBron James sucks!”
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Trump then acknowledged and condoned it, saying, “What a crowd! What a crowd!”
The president was referencing the lower ratings of the NBA 2020 season, which took place inside a “bubble” at the Walt Disney World Resort. Many sports commentators have noted that there is a variety of contributing factors for its ratings, including an abbreviated season that took place as the nation was quarantining due to a coronavirus pandemic that has now killed over a quarter million Americans.
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James had previously stopped short of giving his presidential endorsement out loud. In August, he was asked if he would be endorsing the Democratic ticket. He replied, “I mean, what’s known don’t even need to be said.”
The Lakers mainstay has been actively registering people to vote and signing up poll workers with his More Than A Vote initiative, which was instrumental in getting many arenas where NBA teams play to open as polling places for today’s election.
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Former President Barack Obama, joined James and Maverick Carter in an interview for HBO’s The Shop: Uninterrupted, where the three talked about the need for an ongoing push for equality in this country.
“LeBron and the other athletes have registered tens of thousands of voters who weren’t otherwise planning to vote,” said Obama. “That is power and will manifest itself in this election and in elections beyond. Because once you get in the habit of voting, you keep on voting.”
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