Monday on “CNN Newsroom,” Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson weighed in on Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham telling outspoken Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” instead of criticizing President Trump.

Watson said that he believes there are “racial undertones” to Ingraham’s remarks and that she wants James to stay out of politics because of his opposing views.

“Well, I don’t know quite why they aren’t allowed — other than the fact they have an opposing view. What we’ve seen so much right now, especially in the climate that we’re in, is if you have an opposing view from someone, whether they be a TV personality or somebody that you’re working with, you want to shut them down,” said Watson.

“When it comes to race, I do think that there are racial undertones,” he added. “Now, I watch Laura Ingraham, I watched her response, I watched how she tried to show the different people that she said shut up and whatever to — there were only one or two. But when you say those sorts of things, especially because of our history as a country, we can’t say those things in a vacuum.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent