Laura Ingraham attacks LeBron James for ‘running his mouth’

Fox News host Laura Ingraham railed against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James on Thursday after the NBA star blasted President Trump in a video posted online this week.

In the video, which was shot for James’s multimedia platform Uninterrupted, James and Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant reflect on Trump’s presidency, with James saying that the president doesn’t “give a f— about the people.”

The conservative commentator responded to the video on the Thursday night taping of her Fox News show, “The Ingraham Angle,” saying: “Must they run their mouths like that? Unfortunately, a lot of kids and some adults take these ignorant comments seriously.” 

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“Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids,” she added. “This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA. And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball.”

James graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003. 

Ingraham also said that James and Durant should “keep the political commentary to” themselves, because, unlike Trump, they were not elected to lead the country. 

“You’re great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be there coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself, or, as someone once said, ‘shut up and dribble.'”

James and Durant have both been critical of Trump in the past.

Durant said last year that he would not visit the White House with the Warriors after they won the NBA championships. The team later called off the visit, altogether, amid a feud with Trump.

James supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Last year, after violent white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Va., James referred to Trump as the “so-called president.”

Ingraham defended her comments in a statement released by Fox News on Friday, saying there “was no racial intent” in her remarks.

“In 2003, I wrote a New York Times bestseller called ‘Shut Up & Sing,’ in which I criticized celebrities like the Dixie Chicks & Barbra Streisand who were trashing then-President George W. Bush. I have used a variation of that title for more than 15 years to respond to performers who sound off on politics,” she said.

“I’ve told Robert DeNiro to ‘Shut Up & Act,’ Jimmy Kimmel to ‘Shut Up & Make Us Laugh,’ and just this week told the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich to ‘Shut up & Coach.’ If pro athletes and entertainers want to freelance as political pundits, then they should not be surprised when they’re called out for insulting politicians,” he continued. 

“There was no racial intent in my remarks – false, defamatory charges of racism are a transparent attempt to immunize entertainment and sports elites from scrutiny and criticism. Additionally, we stated on my show that these comments came from an ESPN podcast, which was not the case – the content was unaffiliated with ESPN.”

Updated: 7:22 p.m.