NYT Columnist: President Trump Has A Pattern of Attacking Black Athletes [VIDEO]

It’s hard to keep up these days with the list of people President Trump chooses to attack via Twitter. But a recent Twitter tantrum against one of America’s greatest sports talents had one columnist from the New York Times noticing an interesting pattern.

It came after LeBron James sat down with CNN host Don Lemon — who is also an African American man — for an interview in which he talked about growing up poor and his desire to do something for kids in poverty now that he is wealthy. He also offered a mild jab directed at Trump.

“I would never sit across from him,” said James. “What I’ve noticed over the last few months (is) that he’s kind of used sport to kind of divide us. And that’s something that I can’t relate to, because I know that sport was the first time I ever was around someone white and I got that opportunity to see them and learn about them.”

The president then took to Twitter:

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

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018

In a new column titled Donald Trump and the Black Athlete, New York Times Columnist Michael Powell writes:

“There was a breathtaking quality to this attack, and not just because white men demeaning the intelligence of black people is one of the oldest and ugliest tropes in American history … Time and again, this president has questioned black intelligence. And from the former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick to the transcendent point guard Stephen Curry, Trump seems to especially enjoy picking public fights with black athletes.”

Powell joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to talk about the incident and what it says more broadly about Trump’s attitude toward black athletes — and black Americans.

Click on the audio player above to hear that conversation.