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Trump says 'zero interest' to see LeBron James win as NBA ratings drop by 70%, Internet says 'you're garbage'

The Internet was divided over Trump's tweet as some sided with POTUS agreeing that the game did not interest them any longer because of BLM and politicizing

POTUS Donald Trump mocked basketball player LeBron James after he found that the viewership of the NBA finals game may have been down by as much as 70% this year. 

Trump has never had a pleasant equation with the sports legend and seemingly hinted that racial justice and political messaging at the games was not really helping the league, Daily Mail reports. Trump had posted a news report from a right-wing publication Breitbart on Twitter. His tweet along with a link to the publication read, "Viewership for NBA Finals Finale Crash Nearly 70%, Beaten by Random Sunday Night Football Game. Maybe they were watching in China, but I doubt it. Zero interest!" China had aired the game after a short hiatus. 

A spokesperson for the China Media Group said that the NBA "has made active efforts in supporting the Chinese people in fighting against the novel coronavirus epidemic." It has been reported that this year only around 6 million viewers had tuned in to watch the finals as compared to 18.34 million before the pandemic. 

Trump's tweet and comments were met with mixed responses across social media with some supporting him and others slamming him for the same. One such user had shared, "Again with the ratings obsession. As though there aren’t more presidential things to worry about at the moment."

Another social media user had commented and written, "TFW the "president" attacks the one sport that successfully negotiated the coronavirus by masking up and observing health protocols, gee, I wonder why he's picking this particular sport, what could it be."

"There was more info in just this tweet than you divulged in your healthcare and running platform tweets and campaign speeches," shared another user who seemingly mocked Trump for his leadership when it comes to handling the coronavirus epidemic. 

"Maybe if you didn’t help kill over 219,000 people, viewership would be up. Real lives. Ratings. How’s the dex weaning going?" another social media user pointed out. Yet another user who echoed the same sentiments had commented on the same and added, "You continue to disappoint me as a leader and more importantly as the POTUS. How’s Melania?" Another lashed out saying: 'Way to unify and build up America...You're complete garbage'.

There were a couple of users who did seem to be in support of Trump and commented on the same. One such user had written, "The NBA made a stupid decision of pushing race and politics, it is no wonder they have quickly reversed that position for next season."

"I like basketball but I love our anthem more! Too bad they do not pick a different way to make a point. She's a grand old flag she's a high flying flag!" added another supportive user. 

According to TMZ, Trump had made it clear that he does not like LeBron James at all and called him a 'hater' who is ruining pro basketball. While speaking on 'The Rush Limbaugh Show' on Friday, October 9, Trump had said, "LeBron is a spokesman for the democratic party and a very nasty spokesman."

"Because, again, I've done so much for the Black community and people don't wanna see that and he's a great basketball player but people don't wanna see a guy that way. They don't want to see that. We have enough difficulty during the week, you don't wanna sit down watching a basketball game and then watch somebody that hates your guts, okay, He's a hater," Trump added. 

That's not the only words Trump has had for the basketball champ, earlier in March, Trump suggested that the star player was "dumb." "Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn't easy to do," Trump had tweeted.

LeBron too has not minced words when talking about POTUS. Trump had voiced his displeasure, noting how the league's embrace of anthem protests and Black Lives Matter activism was "unacceptable" to him, to which the player had replied: "Are you trying to make me laugh right now? I really don't think the basketball community [is] sad about losing his viewership." He said he didn't want to delve into his thoughts on the president, but encouraged viewers to vote for "change" this November.