President Trump Angering Members Of NFL, NBA
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – President Trump has triggered a war of words with some of the nation's top athletes.
The dust-up includes his comments about the NFL and now a falling out with some of the biggest sports stars in the world.
The championship winning Golden State Warriors say it's clear they are not welcome at the White House, so they're not going.
The statement came a day after NBA All-Star Stephen Curry said he didn't want to go on the traditional visit.
"By acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted," Curry said.
Curry's comment prompted a tweet from President Trump, saying he was withdrawing the invitation...and hours later the team said it will visit the Capital, but not the White House.
The president is also in a war of words with the NFL after criticizing football players for kneeling during the national anthem.
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flag, to say 'get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he's fired," Trump said during a rally earlier this week.
At NFL headquarters, executives were listening.
Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement which read, in part:
"Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players."
Having offended both football and basketball players, the president quickly felt the backlash. NBA star LeBron James released a video statement.
"It's hitting home for me now more because he's now using sports as the platform to try to divide us," James said in the video.
Fellow NBA stat Chris Paul tweeted, "with everything that's going on in our country, why are you focused on who's kneeling and visiting the white house?"
