Trump calls dad of UCLA player ‘ungrateful fool’
WASHINGTON — President Trump may be on vacation at his resort in Florida, but he was up early on Wednesday, railing against a college basketball player’s father — “ungrateful fool!” — and the NFL in a series of Twitter posts before 6 a.m.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Trump apparently felt he was not getting enough credit for helping to free three UCLA basketball players who were detained in China after being accused of shoplifting designer sunglasses.
“It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence — IT WAS ME,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..”
Trump continued on Twitter, “...LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!”
LaVar Ball is the outspoken father of UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball, who, along with his teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, was released from Chinese custody after Trump intervened. LaVar Ball has played down Trump’s involvement.
In his burst of early Twitter posts on Wednesday, Trump returned to a favorite topic: professional football players kneeling in protest during the national anthem. Trump has excoriated the NFL for allowing players to make the gesture, which he sees as disrespecting the American flag. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the league was considering a policy change under which players would stay in the locker room during the playing of the anthem.
“That’s almost as bad as kneeling!” Trump tweeted.