LeBron James backs Kamala Harris by invoking Trump's rhetoric on race

By Akayla Gardner and Randall Williams

 

LeBron James, one of the most popular athletes in the world, officially endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, rebuking Donald Trump in a video that highlighted the Republican candidate’s oft-inflammatory rhetoric on race. 

 

“When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!,” James wrote in a post on the social-media platform X. 

 

The intense video that accompanied the post opened with racist remarks about Black Americans that a comedian Trump platformed at his Oct. 27 tent pole rally at Madison Square Garden made, less than two weeks before the election. The one minute and 15-second video was interspersed with Trump making racially divisive comments and juxtaposed with images from the US Civil Rights movement. 

 

It included Trump saying that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and that migrants are taking so-called “Black jobs.” Other images included newspaper headlines assailing Trump for language critics have said invokes Nazi or other racially inflammatory rhetoric. The video ends with text reading “hate takes us back.”

 

Trump’s Madison Square Garden event was marked by his allies’ misogynist and racist language. The same comedian who made the comment about Black Americans at the event, Tony Hinchcliffe, also drew bipartisan condemnation for calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

 

James’ endorsement with five days until the election comes as Trump has tried to cut into Democrats’ historic advantage with minorities, particularly Black and Hispanic men, just as Harris and her party have deepened outreach. 

 

James, who has used his prominent platform to weigh in on social and cultural issues, has clashed with former President Trump before.

 

The NBA star famously labeled Trump a “bum” for criticizing fellow player Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors after they appeared reluctant to visit the White House when Trump was in office as is traditional for teams that win sports championships. Then-President Trump withdrew an invitation for the team and criticized the Warriors.

 

“U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite,” James wrote in a post on social media in 2017. “Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!”

 

LeBron also assailed Trump for criticizing NBA players who knelt during the playing of the US national anthem, with the Republican calling it “disgraceful” and saying that he turned off the game when he saw those protests.

 

“I really don’t think the basketball community are sad about losing his viewership,” LeBron said at the time.

 

Trump, in turn, has also criticized James, insulting his intelligence in 2018 and adding in a social-media post: “I like Mike!” in reference to another iconic basketball legend, Michael Jordan.

 

James, a Los Angeles Lakers star and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, is widely seen as one of the greatest players of his generation. He endorsed and campaigned with Hillary Clinton in 2016, joining the then-Democratic presidential nominee at a campaign event in Cleveland, and also threw his support behind President Joe Biden in 2020.

 

Harris in the run-up to Election Day has tapped the support of a number of prominent celebrities to bolster her appeal and drum up enthusiasm among supporters, including pop mega-star Beyoncé Knowles-Carter who joined her at a rally in the artist’s hometown of Houston and rock musician Bruce Springsteen, among others.

 

A senior Harris campaign official, speaking on condition of anonymity during a call with reporters on Thursday, said the celebrity endorsements offer her a chance to connect with low-propensity voters outside of normal political channels. The official added that several public figures have supported Harris on their own, though the campaign has made efforts to make inroads with some individuals.