President Donald Trump on Sunday slammed the father of a UCLA basketball player, who downplayed his importance in getting the three students released from shoplifting charges in China, The Hill informs.
“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!” Trump tweeted.
LiAngelo Ball and two other players were arrested and accused of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store while the UCLA basketball team was on a trip to China for its season-opening game. The players faced potential jail sentences for the charge, but Trump reportedly spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about resolving the situation, and soon after that the players were released. The players subsequently held a press conference last week in which they apologized for the incident and thanked Trump.
However, ESPN on Friday asked LaVar Ball about Trump’s role in bringing his son back to the United States, to which he responded that “everybody wants to make it seem like Trump helped out.”
“Who? What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.” Ball said. When asked by ABC producer Mike Del Moro about the Trump’s tweets Sunday night, LaVar Ball reportedly questioned why Trump was not focused on more important issues.
“Did he go visit them in jail? If you went to visit them in jail then I would say, ‘thank you.” he said. The three players have been suspended indefinitely from the UCLA basketball program while the school reviews the situation.
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