With LeBron James comments, is Donald Trump catering to racist base?: Today's talker The president has a history of calling prominent African-Americans 'low IQ.' It caters to white supremacist rhetoric.

USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump bashes LeBron James over CNN interview President Trump reacted on Twitter to a CNN interview with LeBron James where the NBA superstar criticized the president.

President Donald Trump questioned the intelligence of basketball icon LeBron James and CNN's Don Lemon after James stated that Trump was using athletes to promote division in the country. Trump's words have prompted some to call him a bully; others have accused him of pandering to a racist base. First lady Melania Trump came out in support of James' charitable efforts.

Trump picked wrong guy to fight with in James

We have come to this: A president with a fourth-grade vocabulary and an aversion to truth, devoid of compassion and impulse control, is attacking the intelligence of a basketball star who just donated $50 million to build a school for at-risk students.

That the most powerful man on the planet is also among the most peevish is, by now, a given. That Donald Trump would rather do battle with black athletes than malevolent dictators is, at a minimum, reflective of his skewed sensibilities and his willingness to pander to the racist element in his base.

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

First of all, it’s LeBron, not “Lebron.” Second, didn’t Trump call Bill Maher “the dumbest man on television” on Jan. 14, 2013? Are we to believe Maher got smarter in the interim or Lemon dumber?

Third, shouldn’t the president of the United States have higher priorities than immediate payback for perceived slights?

“A sign of an insecure human being is one who attacks others to make themselves feel better,” read a tweet from former Louisville star Donovan Mitchell's account on Saturday. “(I’m) just sad that young kids have to see stupid tweets like these and grow up thinking it’s okay ... forget everything else Donald your (sic) setting a bad example for kids.”

Moreover, in responding to recurring jabs from James with a gratuitous, unsubstantiated shot at his brainpower, Trump has picked an unusually unpromising fight.

James has spent his entire adult life as a celebrity and without the slightest scent of scandal or impropriety. He has stayed married to his high school sweetheart while Trump is on his third marriage and boasted about grabbing women by the genitals.

Like Trump, James has earned a billion dollars, but without six corporate bankruptcies.

In donating $50 million for the Akron “I Promise” school that opened Monday, James is providing an on-site food bank for students and job placement assistance for their parents. Each student is issued a bicycle and every graduate, beginning in 2021, is guaranteed free tuition at the University of Akron.

Tim Sullivan writes for The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, where this piece originally appeared. For the full column, visit www.courier-journal.com/staff/5355/tim-sullivan.

What our readers are saying

Letters edited for length and clarity:

Bullying behavior usually comes from people who are insecure. They use brawn and ugly words to prove themselves. Today, right at this very moment, that mentality is coming from our White House.

President Donald Trump is the bully of all bullies. This is certainly not fake news. His recent racist remarks have proved that he is getting more emboldened and is frightened for the days when his house of cards will fall around him and possibly his family.

His chosen punching bags, most recently, are celebrated sports icon LeBron James and TV news commentator Don Lemon. Both are African-Americans. To rally his base, Trump says negative things about their intelligence, as so many racists believe misguided rhetoric about men and women of color. Trump stokes coals by spurting out demeaning non-truths. He feels those words make him look strong.

I believe Trump has proved that he, through his very own actions and words, is not a leader but a classic, insecure bully to the highest degree.

Linda Gefen; Boca Raton, Fla.

LeBron James really has chutzpah saying that the president is dividing the country by criticizing NFL players.

No one in any profession has the right to protest at his workplace. It’s that simple. Not only that, the form of protest these NFL players are using is disrespecting the American flag. Plus, they do this using a platform that has tens of thousands of attendees and is shown to millions of Americans on television.

And James thinks the president is dividing the country? That really takes guts.

Tom Fryman; Delaware, Ohio

Facebook comments edited for clarity:

There is ongoing hate toward President Donald Trump. Melania Trump has done what any first lady should do in her job, create peace by reaching out.

—Michael Younger

I'm giving Melania Trump credit for this one. Her statement is a slap back at her husband, and sends a message to her son that here's a man who uses his fortune to do good.

—Clint Murray

If you ever say anything unflattering about Trump, rest assured he will throw you under the bus in a second. He lives for these moments. Goodness knows he isn't doing much of anything else. Expect it to come up at his next "it's all about me" pep rally that LeBron James is only a mediocre basketball player with no class. Hmmmm ... maybe they should check the origin of James' birth just in case a conspiracy needs to get generated for deportation.

—Warren Weick

A lot of people used to be LeBron fans, myself included. But how overbearing he has become. Good thing he is huge and gets all the calls his way in the league.

—William E Mansfield

What others are saying

Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post: "One of the most intriguing things about Melania Trump is the pointed yet cryptic way she seems to have found to drag her husband. ... Our oracular first lady was at it again on Saturday, seeming to issue a deft smackdown to a childish tweet President Trump had fired off late the night before. ... Melania Trump ... added the coup de grace, with a statement issued by her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham: 'It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the First Lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today. As you know, Mrs. Trump has traveled the country and world talking to children about their well-being, healthy living, and the importance of responsible online behavior with her Be Best initiative. Her platform centers around visiting organizations, hospitals and schools, and she would be open to visiting the I Promise School in Akron.' ... What’s significant is not just what a first lady says but when she decides to speak up. There is no requirement that she say anything at all, and this particular presidential spouse has been the most reticent going at least as far back as Pat Nixon."

Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY: "Since the 2016 election, Trump has had several opportunities to fire back at LeBron James for something James said about him. But until Friday evening, Trump resisted. Even when James called Trump a 'bum' and even when James said Trump doesn’t understand or care about the people, Trump said nothing. All the while, Trump bashed the NFL, some of its players and the Golden State Warriors, calling Steph Curry out by name. Trump left James alone — until Friday evening when he insulted the intelligence of James and CNN’s Don Lemon in a tweet. ... Why now? Joe Vardon, who covered James for Cleveland.com and covered Ohio politics before switching to sports, posits that Trump waited until James was no longer a full-time resident of Ohio, a swing state Trump needs to win in 2020. Now that James is moving to California — a state Trump won’t win — Trump felt it was OK to bash James in a tweet at 11:37 p.m. ET on a Friday. How that impacts the 2020 election, the people of Ohio will settle that. It seems like superficial play, if that’s why Trump attacked James with a third-grade insult that's hardly clever or mature."

Dean Obeidallah, CNN: "There's no disputing that Trump's pattern of attacking well-known African-Americans as having 'low IQs' or being of low intelligence is parroting the white nationalist view that blacks are inherently less intelligent than whites. The only question is whether Trump was intentionally espousing the views of white supremacists. Well, given Trump's history, there's only one reasonable conclusion: Trump knows exactly what he's saying."

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