It was too cold to play golf on Sunday so Donald Trump spent the day ranting about how he should have let three UCLA basketball players stay in jail in China because they will not suck up to him.
Trump tweeted:
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017
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Trump was so enraged because LaVar Ball said that the shoplifting arrest in China where involved his son “ain’t that big of a deal.”
I would argue that having your child arrested and thrown in prison in a foreign country is a big deal, but Ball is right in one respect. Trump has been acting like getting the UCLA basketball players out of the shoplifting arrest was like freeing the US hostages from Iran.
In political terms, it isn’t that big of a thing. It probably involved someone on the White House staff making a call and reminding the Chinese that sticking three US basketball players in jail for shoplifting isn’t such a bright idea.
Trump doesn’t get the fact that he is a public servant. He works for the American people. The presidency does not work for Donald Trump. The President wasn’t bestowing some great favor on the three basketball players. He was doing his job.
With all of the vital issues facing the country at this moment, Donald Trump is plopped down on his couch and tweeting about how LaVar Ball doesn’t show him enough love.
Donald Trump vs. LaVar Ball was the last thing that America needed before a holiday, but it looks like it is the celebrity feud that America is going to get.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
