President Donald Trump continued his online feud with LaVar Ball on Wednesday, taking full credit for getting his son and two other freshmen UCLA basketball players out of Chinese prison time and calling Ball a "poor man's version of Don King."
In Trump's latest contentious interaction with a sports figure, he's insisted on getting thank-yous from Ball's son LiAngelo and his teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill after the trio was arrested earlier this month for stealing designer sunglasses in Hangzhou. Trump said he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to intervene, and the three eventually were sent home without charges.
They thanked Trump and the U.S. government for their efforts to get them out of trouble, but the elder Ball stoked Trump's ire when he downplayed Trump's role in their release. Trump fired back on Twitter that he was "very ungrateful," and the elder Ball went on CNN Monday in a bizarre interview to defend his point of view and still not "thank" Trump.
Now, it's Trump's turn to fire shots.
"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. "Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair."
He added, "Just think, 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!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/933280234220134401
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/933282274937733126
Ball has become known for his sometimes outrageous comments on his and his sons' athletic ability, as well as his constant promotion of Big Baller Brand.
Trump also retweeted radio host Joey Mannarino Wednesday, who tweeted, "The ungratefulness is something I’ve never seen before. If you get someone’s son out of prison, he should be grateful to you! Period. I don’t care. If Hillary got my kid out of prison, as much as I hate the woman, I’d thank her corrupt ass!"
https://twitter.com/Realjmannarino/status/933280770403241984