Kushner: NBA Players Are 'Fortunate' They Can 'Take a Night off' Without Financial Consequences
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is weighing on Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to boycott their playoff game on Wednesday night in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake.
During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Kushner was asked if the White House supports the NBA players who are boycotting games.
“I think that The NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they’re able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially,” Kushner said.
“So they have that luxury, which is great,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Bucks announced that they would boycott their playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
That decision led other NBA teams, and teams from other sports, to boycott their games to protest racism and police brutality.
He continued to say the NBA puts out “a lot of slogans.” However, he said he wants “actual action that’s going to solve the problem.”
Kushner touted what he said were several actions taken by Trump that have benefited the Black community, such as passing “historic criminal justice reform,” and creating opportunity zones to encourage business investment in Black and minority communities.
Kushner continued, “We just have to take this conversation from an emotional one to a constructive one and say, ‘What are the policies that we can agree on?'”
Watch the video below:
"The NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they're able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially," says White House senior advisor Jared Kushner on the NBA player boycotts last night. pic.twitter.com/nHlRBNIzaf
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) August 27, 2020
On Wednesday, former President Barack Obama praised the boycotts, as IJR reported. In a tweet he said, “I commend the players on the @Bucks for standing up for what they believe in, coaches like @DocRivers, and the @NBA and @WNBA for setting an example.”
I commend the players on the @Bucks for standing up for what they believe in, coaches like @DocRivers, and the @NBA and @WNBA for setting an example. It’s going to take all our institutions to stand up for our values. pic.twitter.com/rUGETgAt7P
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 27, 2020
Protests continued on Wednesday night in Kenosha in the wake of Blake’s shooting.
Blake, a Black man, was shot from behind several times by a white police officer after he walked to his car, opened the driver’s side door, and leaned into the car.
Law enforcement officials say they recovered a knife from the car. However, Blake’s lawyer denied that he was a threat to the police and doubted that he was in possession of a knife.
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