NBA star LeBron James has opened up on his decision to back Kamala Harris for president at next Tuesday’s election.
The Los Angeles Lakers star revealed his stance on Thursday on social media but after leading his team to a 131-125 win over Toronto Raptors on Friday night with 27 points, opened up on the decision
Speaking to reporters in the locker room, James said: ‘Well I was going to do it the day of the game in Cleveland but I didn’t want to overshadow me and Bronny going back home. That’s when I planned on doing it.
‘Yesterday seemed a good day, everything was kind of silent. And I wanted to make sure it was seen, heard and heard with force.
‘So having a daughter, having a wife, mother, things of that nature that she believes in when it comes to women’s rights and when it comes to the future of my kids and where I see where our country should be, I feel like that endorsement is only right.’
‘What are we even talking about here??’ James wrote to his 53million followers on X and 159m followers on Instagram on Thursday.
‘When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!’
To support his endorsement, the NBA star posted a video which stitched together footage from the civil rights movement and controversial comments made by Trump.
The video includes comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who was invited to speak at a recent Trump rally, making a racist remark about he and a black friend ‘carving watermelons together’, as well as Trump declaring in an old interview that ‘maybe hate is what we need’.
It also features aggressive soundbites from the Republican leader played over footage of civil rights protests and abuses from several decades.
However, LeBron is now facing a backlash over his endorsement of Harris and attack on Trump, which fans claim has been ‘stitched together’.
One user posted in the comments section: ‘From your biggest fan, clipping together a bunch of unrelated sound bites to these racially charged videos is sad propaganda and embarrassing work. You should be ashamed. There is so much real content you could’ve posted to get your message across, you didn’t need to fabricate this narrative. I’m embarrassed my goat posted this.
Another commented: ‘King, these were all taken out of context’.
‘Nah, this ain’t it,’ a third replied to James. ‘Taking speeches out of context and placing them next to racist historical events is classic Democrat moves.’
‘Those clips in the beginning are literally stitched together. If you cannot see that, you are blind,’ said a fourth.
Another concluded: ‘This is the most propaganda fake post I’ve ever seen.’
LeBron has campaigned for the Democrats in the past and publicly spoken out against former president Trump.
Back in 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers iocn hosted a concert by Jay-Z to support Barack Obama’s run for the White House. He later campaigned for Hillary Clinton during her battle with Trump in 2016.
A year later, James called out Trump on social media. It came after Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry said he would skip the traditional White House visit by the NBA champions, prompting Trump to ‘withdraw’ the invitation.
‘U bum,’ LeBron wrote. ‘@StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!’
