Disgraced CBS “Nightly News” anchor and managing director Dan Rather ripped President Donald Trump for criticizing NBA basketball star LeBron James for his July 30 interview with CNN’s Don Lemon. Like Lemon, James has been a vocal critic of Trump, accusing him of racism, after the president rescinded his invitation to the NBA Champions Golden State Warriors White House visit. Team captain Stephen Curry expressed reservations about going to the White House, prompting Trump to withdraw the invite. “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitatIng, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” tweeted Trump Dec. 7, 2017. LeBron got into the act of slamming Trump, calling the president a “bum.” “U Bum.@StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going. Going to the White House was an honor until you showed up!” Tweeted LeBron.
If Rather did anything other that grab headlines, he’d recognize that Trump didn’t start the feud with James, only responded to LeBron’s hostile tweets. Interviewed by one of CNN’s most vile Trump critics Don Lemon, James simply fell into Lemon trap, finding anyone possible to slam the president. “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made LeBron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike! [Jordan],” Tweeted Trump, getting slammed in the media for re-engaging with LeBron. If LeBron didn’t slap Trump with his Dec. 7, 2017 tweet calling the president a “bum,” Trump would not have publicly reacted. Looking for relevance after kicked out of CBS Nov. 23, 2004 by CBS President Les Moonves, Rather’s willing to say or do anything for publicity. Now exploited by the anti-Trump press, Rather got into the act.
Seizing the chance for publicity, Rather shows why his story at CBS News fell apart quickly, protesting his innocence. When he put on the “Nightly News” a fake discharge report of former President George W. Bush’s 1974 service in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News was forced to fire Rather. Turns out his producer Mary Mapes, who created the fake report, was close friends with former Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.), a key member of Democratic nominee former Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) campaign. When CBS’s investigation proved that Mapes tried to help Kerry get elected, it proved Democrat infiltration into CBS’s newsroom. Rather has been denying what happened since CBS let him go in 2004. He’s now sought after in anti-Trump circles, looking for any publicity that comes his way. Rather knows that the latest brouhaha with James was due to James’s past tweets against Trump.
Calling Trump a “racist” shows how desperate Rather has become to get back in the news. Appearing on Lemon’s anti-Trump show, Rather does nothing for his damaged credibility. Whatever credibility he had for reporting on Watergate in 1972-1973, it’s all but vanished as a pawn for the anti-Trump media. “This is apparently what the President of the United States feels the need to share with the world at what should be long past his bedtime?” Rather told Lemon sarcastically. Calling Trump “a disgrace” and a “racist,” Rather joins Lemon’s Trump-bashing crowd, advancing Democrats’ agenda before November’s Midterm elections. Democrats hope that shows like Lemon’s or MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, help Democrats take back Congress in the fall. Rather’s in no position to criticize Trump after letting the CBS newsroom get hijacked by Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.
Rather blames Trump for the feud with LeBron because he’s preaching to the choir on Lemon’s show. “An it’s the product of petty but dangerous hatreds,” Rather told Lemon. “I repeat, this is the PRESIDENT??!?’ Rather tweeted, ignoring the obvious that LeBron called Trump a “bum” Dec. 7, 2018. Trump said nothing about LeBron until the newly minted Los Angeles Laker threw in his two cents in the Steph Curry flap. Trump received backlash from black NFL athletes weighing in on the National Anthem controversy. Trump thinks professional athletes should express their free speech rights or grievances when off the clock, not at nationally televised sporting events. Former San Francisco 49ers quarter Colin Kaepernick took a knee Sept. 1, 2016 at Qualcomm Stadium protesting police brutality against the black community. Professional athletes don’t like getting lectured by Trump.
Rather joins a long list of Trump-bashers on both sides of the aisle on Lemon’s show, continuing the Democrat narrative that the president’s a racist before the 2018 Midterm elections. Lemon got LeBron to say Trump enabled racists and used sports to divide the nation. James won’t admit that today’s professional athletes see nothing wrong with weighing in on politics, dragging sports into the fray. If James hadn’t called Trump a “bum” Dec. 7, 2017, he wouldn’t be in middle of today’s headlines. Rather’s twisted interpretation that Trump caused the controversy shows that he hasn’t changed a bit since he put fake documents on the CBS “Nightly News.” With Twitter Trump’s only tool to confront biased reporting, the president tries to keep the record straight when he’s misrepresented. Rather jumped in feet first to get some cheap publicity, now that he’s only a passing footnote.
