Miami Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross Responds To Criticism From Receiver Kenny Stills For Hosting Donald Trump Fundraiser

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross responded to public criticism from one of his players.

It started Wednesday morning when the Washington Post reported on two fundraisers Friday, one of them "at the Southampton home of a New York real estate developer who owns the Miami Dolphins."

The paper reports tickets for the fundraiser at the Ross home will cost between $100,000 and $250,000, with money going to the Trump Victory Fund.

Word of the fundraiser prompted this response from the Dolphins' Kenny Stills.

Stills tweeted an image of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, or RISE, home page.

The organization's page references it "educates and empowers the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice and improve race relations."

Stills added the caption "you can't have a nonprofit with this mission statement then open your doors to trump."

Ross released a statement late Wednesday afternoon that read:

"I always have been an active participant in the democratic process. While some prefer to sit outside of the process and criticize, I prefer to engage directly and support the things I deeply care about.

I have known Donald Trump for 40 years, and while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others and I have never been bashful about expressing my opinions.

I started my business with nothing and a reason for my engagement with our leaders is my deep concern for creating jobs and growing our country's economy.

I have been, and will continue to be, an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education and environmental sustainability, and I have and will continue to support leaders on both sides of the aisle to address these challenges."

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• Miami Dolphins
• NFL
• Donald Trump