On last night’s broadcast of the Ingraham Angle, Fox News’ Laura Ingraham addressed NBA icon LeBron James‘ criticism of her by saying the circumstances surrounding her 2018 comments about James and the ones she made on Wednesday night’s broadcast about New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees were different.
A night earlier, the conservative host defended comments Brees made during a recent Yahoo Finance interview about “disrespecting the flag” and kneeling during the national anthem.
“He’s allowed to have his view about what kneeling and the flag means to him. He’s a person,” Ingraham said of Brees, adding, “This is beyond football.”
Brees’ remarks had been condemned by several pro athletes, and other supporters of the current Black Lives Matter marches in response to the death of George Floyd.
In 2018, Ingraham said James should “shut up and dribble,” rather than commenting on political issues. Ingraham’s remark came after James said Pres. Trump “really doesn’t give a f*ck about the people.”
On Thursday, James retweeted a video mashup of Ingraham’s 2018 comments about him, alongside her Wednesday night remarks about Brees. James suggested in his tweet that the nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyd‘s death are occurring “because we are simply (expletive) tired of this treatment right here!”
The clip, originally posted by Complex Sports, has drawn nearly 30 million viewers as of publication time.
If you still haven’t figured out why the protesting is going on. Why we’re acting as we are is because we are simply F-N tired of this treatment right here! Can we break it down for you any simpler than this right here???? 🤦🏾♂️. And to my people don’t worry I won’t stop until I see https://t.co/e4pJ0PvwJj
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 4, 2020
On last night’s edition of The Ingraham Angle, the host addressed James’ criticism of her:
I expressed concern that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was being subjected to withering criticism for answering a question about what NFL protests might look like next season.
He said the flag shouldn’t be disrespected and that he thinks of his veteran grandfathers and the civil rights pioneers when he hears our national anthem. We noted that Brees also cited his deep Christian faith which of course teaches that everyone should be treated equally, and we noted his generous contributions to charity.
My defense of Brees led to an online chorus of people comparing those comments to previous comments I made to LeBron James. Now, at the time, James had said that Trump “really doesn’t give a f*ck about the people,” without dwelling on the nuance between the two instances.
We are all children of God. Regardless of our racial or political differences and therefore, must be treated equally. Every American has a God-given right to speak his or her own mind on any issue. I think in order to heal and shed light on justices, our country needs more dialogue, not less. We need more respect, not retribution. Emotions are hot right now. and unfortunately, in times like these, we often find ourselves and I know it’s easy to talk past each other, but right now, Americans, most of them are looking for reconciliation. That means politicians, police men even cultural figures all working together, all of them. Now, we are all human beings. and for a short period of time, you may think about it but this is the moment when we should be listening and learning. All of us.
In terms of Brees—The QB, who ironically has long been seen as a leader and one of the most popular players in the league, has since apologized for his remarks, saying in an Instagram message on Thursday, “In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country.”