‘Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Called Racist After Telling LeBron James, Kevin Durant To ‘Shut Up And Dribble’

Laura Ingraham of Fox News has ignited the ire in fans of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and basketball fans everywhere by dismissing their right to speak out on politics and to share their opinions of Donald Trump and the way he his running the country. Ingraham began by calling LeBron James and Kevin Durant “dumb jocks,” but turned up the racist tone by suggesting that LeBron and Kevin Durant cannot be understood when they talk.

LeBron James And Kevin Durant Were Asked About Their Thoughts On Politics And Donald Trump.

It all started when LeBron James and Kevin Durant went on the Uninterrupted ESPN web series “Rolling With The Champion.” Journalist Cari Champion hosts the series and wanted to talk about topics like being a top athlete, social injustice, and the state of politics.

Both LeBron James and Kevin Durant shared their disappointment in Donald Trump as president, and James said that Trump is not concerned with what Americans think says, the Washington Post.

“[Trump doesn’t] give a f— about the people.”

Laura Ingraham called this comment by LeBron James “ignorant” and says that both men should stick to basketball.

“You’re great players but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself or, as someone once said, shut up and dribble.”

“Must they run their mouths like that?” @IngrahamAngle asked in her segment centered around calling @KingJames an uppity idiot. Yes, to answer her question—and also, thanks for making his point about being subject to racism despite being wealthy. https://t.co/QLJ5lVIQH7

— Jamil Smith ???? ???? (@JamilSmith) February 16, 2018

The Comments By LeBron James And Kevin Durant Were Thoughtful About The Political Climate.

But Cari Champion had particularly elicited a response from LeBron James and Kevin Durant about what a star athlete with a public platform would say about the current political climate. Champion reminded LeBron James that he had already publicly called Trump a bum.

“The climate is hot. Trump is someone who doesn’t understand the people, and really don’t give a f— about the people.”

LeBron James continued by saying that growing up, he thought that the person who served as president of the United States was someone to look up to.

“When I was growing up, there were like three jobs that you looked to for inspiration, or you felt like these were the people that could give me life. It was the president of the United States, it was whoever was the best in sports, and then it was like the greatest musician at the time. You never thought you could be them, but you could grab inspiration from them. If there was a neighborhood African American cop, and he was cool as hell coming around, I felt like I could be him.”

Kevin Durant chimed in to add that a president should serve as the best possible head coach for the country.

“You need to empower people, you need to encourage people, and that’s what builds a great team. And I feel like our team, as a country, is not run by a great coach.”

But Laura Ingraham thought that the things that LeBron James and Kevin Durant had to say on the ESPN show were disrespectful to Donald Trump and that LeBron James and Kevin Durant’s language and diction were “unintelligible and ungrammatical,” says Hollywood Life.

“Must they run their mouths like that? Unfortunately, a lot of kids — and some adults — take these ignorant comments seriously. Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids: This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA. And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid a hundred million dollars a year to bounce a ball.”

"Keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, shut up and dribble,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said, addressing LeBron James and Kevin Durant https://t.co/vO9tRnx5bZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 16, 2018

Twitter Continues To Erupt Saying That Ingraham Was Racist In Trying To Suppress LeBron James’ Opinions.

Dwyane Wade, a former teammate of LeBron James, said that people like Laura Ingraham have been emboldened to share their racist-tinged rhetoric to suggest that athletes should just stick to amusing others, and not speak their minds by the current administration.

“They use to try and hide it,” Wade said. “Now the president has given everyone the courage to live their truths.”

But after Dwyane Wade’s comment about the way Ingraham spoke of LeBron James and Kevin Durant, others chimed in on Twitter to correct Laura Ingraham, who claimed that LeBron James left high school early and never graduated. LeBron graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, for the record.

Others wondered what Laura Ingraham feels about freedom of speech, and seeing as LeBron James and Kevin Durant are both American citizens, don’t they have the right to share their opinions?

“I’m not sure what qualification Ms. Ingraham has to express her POV aside from being on TV and, I assume being an American. In other words, the same as Mr. James. Relegating him to one function alone displays her ignorance and shallowness.”

Many Twitter users believed that when Laura Ingraham said “they” as in “must they run their mouths,” she meant LeBron and Kevin Durant being men of color rather than basketball players.

“When she says ‘they’ does anyone think she means basketball players?! Nope, me neither.”

Editor’s note: Fox News Channel’s communications team reached out to the Inquisitr with a statement from Laura Ingraham.

“In 2003, I wrote a New York Times bestseller called ‘Shut Up & Sing,’ in which I criticized celebrities like the Dixie Chicks & Barbra Streisand who were trashing then-President George W. Bush. I have used a variation of that title for more than 15 years to respond to performers who sound off on politics. I’ve told Robert DeNiro to ‘Shut Up & Act,’ Jimmy Kimmel to ‘Shut Up & Make Us Laugh,’ and just this week told the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich to ‘Shut up & Coach.’ If pro athletes and entertainers want to freelance as political pundits, then they should not be surprised when they’re called out for insulting politicians. There was no racial intent in my remarks – false, defamatory charges of racism are a transparent attempt to immunize entertainment and sports elites from scrutiny and criticism. Additionally, we stated on my show that these comments came from an ESPN podcast, which was not the case – the content was unaffiliated with ESPN.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHDuNxve3U0