Trump suggests LeBron James is 'racist,' backs Michael Jordan as a 'friend'

President Donald Trump said Friday that he rates former basketball star Michael Jordan over LeBron James, suggesting that the latter was "maybe a racist." 

The president's comments come after it was reported earlier Friday that the 41-year-old sports star James has signed a two-year $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, marking the fourth team in his career.

Trump was asked where he stands on LeBron versus Michael Jordan as the best basketball player ever during an unrelated announcement in the Oval Office, to which the president stated that he "only like[s] people who like me." 

“Michael Jordan’s a guy that’s a friend of mine. I golf with him. He’s a really good guy,” Trump said. “I think LeBron is maybe he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump. I don’t know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way."

The comment is not a surprise given James' criticism of the president. James said in 2018 that Trump does not care about Americans and that the words that come from Trump's mouth are "laughable" and "scary." 

“While we cannot change what comes out of that man’s mouth, we can continue to alert the people that watch us, that listen to us that this is not the way,” James said at the time, according to The Hill.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.