LeBron James Calls Out Laura Ingraham For Telling Him To 'Shut Up' While Defending Drew Brees
LeBron James called out Fox News host Laura Ingraham for the hypocrisy of defending Drew Brees' right to speak out on political issues on her show Wednesday, two years after she told James to "shut up and dribble" after his comments on President Donald Trump.
"If you still haven’t figured out why the protesting is going on," James tweeted Thursday, referencing widespread protests over the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man who died after white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over eight minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.
"Why we’re acting as we are is because we are simply F-N tired of this treatment right here! Can we break it down for you any simpler than this right here???? And to my people don’t worry I won’t stop until I see CHANGE!!!"
After Brees said Wednesday that he remains staunchly against players kneeling during the national anthem -- a comment he apologized for Thursday -- Ingraham said the New Orleans Saints quarterback has a right to his opinion.
"He's allowed to have his view about what kneeling and the flag means to him," Ingraham said Wednesday. "He's a person. He has some worth, I would imagine."
Ingraham was incensed by the reaction and widespread hurt after Brees told Yahoo Finance: "I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country."
“This is totalitarian conduct," she said. "This is Stalinist!”
Ingraham, however, had an entirely different reaction after James voiced his thoughts on Trump in 2018, telling Uninterrupted that he "doesn’t really give a f— about the people."
Ingraham dismissed James' comments as “unintelligible” and “ungrammatical," saying, “It's always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball." She added that he should "Shut up and dribble."
James, who has always been very vocal about social, political and racial ills, tweeted a response to Brees on Wednesday, expressing frustration over him failing to understand that players kneel as a form of peaceful protest against police brutality and racial injustices, not as a slight to servicemen.
"You literally still don’t understand why Kap was kneeling on one knee??" James wrote of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. "Has absolute nothing to do with the disrespect of and our soldiers(men and women) who keep our land free. My father-in-law was one of those men who fought as well for this country."
Brees apologized for his comments Thursday over Instagram, writing, "I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country."
After Floyd's murder, James tweeted a photo of Chauvin kneeling on his neck next to a photo Kaepernick peacefully kneeling in protest of police brutality.
"Do you understand NOW!!??!!??" James wrote May 26. "Or is it still blurred to you?? 🤦🏾♂️ #StayWoke👁"
