WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said Thursday that NBA protests over Jacob Blake’s police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are “absurd and stupid,” while White House Chief of Staff Jared Kushner told CNBC that the players were “very happy” to be in a financial position to “take a night off from work.”
“If they want to protest, I don’t think we care,” Short told CNN’s “New Day.”
The remarks came the day after the NBA postponed three scheduled playoff games, prompted by the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision not to take the floor for a game against the Orlando Magic. The players demand that legislators act to address the brutality of the police and racial injustice.
In a separate appearance for an event hosted by Politico, Kushner said he planned to reach out to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, an outspoken advocate for changes for police.
“Look, I think peaceful protest has a place and it matters,” Kushner said. “But I think what we need to do now is make sure we take the anger that people have and we need to move from slogans to constructive solutions.”
Players and teams from MLB, the WNBA, MLS and pro tennis sat out events Wednesday night, and NBA players and coaches met for nearly three hours to determine the next steps, including whether the season should continue.
“NBA players are very happy that they have the financial position where they can take a night off from work without having the financial consequences for themselves,” Kushner told CNBC.
President Donald Trump, who was due to deliver his acceptance speech for nomination at a scale-up Republican National Convention on Thursday night, made restoring “law and order” to cities a focus of his campaign during a summer of sometimes violent protests following George’s death Floyd, a Black man whose murder by Minneapolis police in late May encouraged national unrest.
“I do not know that you will see the administration dare in any way. In my mind it is absurd and stupid,” Short said.
Short also focused on the NBA’s relative silence on human rights abuses in China, a key market for the league. The NBA received heavy criticism from Republicans last month after an ESPN report that young participants in a league program in China were physically beaten by Chinese instructors and did not receive proper schooling.
The league and its players have spoken out in favor of reforms in the wake of Floyd’s assassination. The NBA has incorporated its support for the Black Lives Matter movement into players’ uniforms and through advertising. Trump has called that movement “a symbol of hatred.”
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