'Grow up Donnie': Trump blasted for saying he should have left UCLA basketball players in jail
Trump's "petty" remarks immediately triggered furious reactions on Twitter with many slamming the president as a "small, small individual."
US President Donald Trump lashed out at the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players, who were arrested for shoplifting in China, and tweeted that he that he "should have left them in jail!" Twitter, on the other hand, has furiously hit back at the president's "selfish" comments.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Trump wrote: "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!"
He later tweeted: "Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!"
Trump's furious remarks came after LaVar Ball, the father of one of the arrested players, downplayed and questioned how instrumental the president was in getting the players released.
"Who?" Ball told ESPN when asked about Trump's role in getting the players home. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
Ball is the CEO of the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand. His son, LiAngelo Ball, was arrested along with Cody Riley and Jalen Hill and accused of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store during the team's week-long trip to China.
Trump reportedly spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about resolving the issue. Trump took credit for the UCLA players' release in a tweet on Wednesday and asked whether they would express gratitude to them saying they were otherwise "headed for 10 years in jail."
The three players later apologised and thanked the president during a press conference last week. They have been suspended indefinitely from the UCLA team.
Trump's "petty" remarks on Sunday, however, immediately triggered furious reactions on Twitter with many slamming the president as a "small" and "childish" person.
Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted: "The President would have left American students in a foreign jail because their families didn't lavish sufficient praise on him. How can someone in such a big office be so small?"
"Wow, taking petty to new levels of low, huh?" one Twitter user wrote. A second chimed: "When he doesn't get the adulation he craves, he starts whining."
One person tweeted: "Donald Trump saying that he should have left LaVar Ball's son in jail simply because he didn't get a "Thank You" from him is the most childish and unpresidential thing I've ever heard. My 4 year old is a more developed human being than Donald Trump is!"
Many speculated that the feud is just getting started.
"In retrospect, this season of America was clearly building up to a LaVar Ball-Donald Trump ladder match in the season finale," Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale tweeted.
PLEASE, focus on your job as president.
— Troy McPeek (@goateeone) November 19, 2017
i think you and lavar need to play 1 on 1 to decide the outcome of this feud
— abdul (@Advil) November 19, 2017
Omg he is SUCH an embarrassment, how can ANY adult be so petty, much less the POTUS. pic.twitter.com/XdYyMIhiyw
— Wendy (@wendytbm) November 19, 2017
Simple. He's got no loyalty to this country, its people, or what it stands for. He has no sense of duty or honor. He's a grifter looking to satisfy his own end, everyone else be damned.
— ImSoVirtual (@ImSoVirtual) November 19, 2017
He’s going to go down as not only our worst president ever, but perhaps the worst person in American public life.
— Kate Tuttle (@katekilla) November 19, 2017
November 19, 1863: President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address, widely considered to be one of the most important speeches in American history
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) November 19, 2017
November 19, 2017: President Trump fights with LaVar Ball, expresses regret about not leaving American citizens in China
So, you would just leave an american in Jail? Whether they get out depends on how profusely they thank you? Thats so Un-American and Un-Christian its beyond the pale
— Ron L Pittsâ„¢ (@RonLPitts) November 19, 2017
Sexual harassment is a big deal in The United States and you’re still the president
— Jason Z Espinal (@jasonisodioso) November 20, 2017
Treason, tax evasion and sexual harassment are very big deals here in the U.S., but not to you.
— Mo'Kelly, Inc.ðŸŽ™ï¸ (@MrMokelly) November 20, 2017
Don't you have more important things to do than tweet about this unimportant petty bullsh*t. Honestly...grow up!! 🤦ðŸ»â€â™€ï¸
— Mich (@MyOzFeed) November 20, 2017
Another toddler temper-tantrum by the race-baiting Manbaby-in-Chief. The depth of @realDonaldTrump's mental illness is staggering. He's a sociopath. #trump #UCLA #LaVarBall pic.twitter.com/QCIQNHoOdf
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) November 19, 2017
Christ, he's going to start a feud with LaVar Ball to pick up his ratings. We've hit peak 2017 idiocy. https://t.co/UJH1kgnUgg
— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) November 19, 2017
If LaVar Ball gets our president to fight with him via Twitter instead of nuclear-supplied world leaders, he should win the Nobel Peace Prize. I think I'm kidding, but I'm not sure. https://t.co/WKcsx1NVKN
— David Ubben (@davidubben) November 19, 2017
Real reason Trump is mad at LaVar Ball is that he has sold more shoes than Ivanka.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) November 19, 2017
LaVar Ball and Trump gotta play one on one and the winner gets America!
— Kristopher London (@IamKrisLondon) November 19, 2017
The Constitution requires that the President has "attained the age of 35 years." The intent of the framers was to assure a degree of emotional maturity. Age 5 doesn't cut it.
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) November 19, 2017
Trump Blasts LaVar Ball: ‘I Should Have Left Them in Jail!’ https://t.co/1mWvx1ArYA
.@realDonaldTrump, for the love of all that is holy, grow up already. Everything isn't about you. My dog has more empathy.
— (((Bryna Fischer))) (@WhatIMeantEdit) November 20, 2017
"I should have left them in jail!" is not what a President should say about American citizens. You work for us, not the other way around.
— Sean O'Leary (@stholeary) November 19, 2017
No bigger waste of sperm than the shit that made you.
— Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) November 19, 2017
Hard to say which is more ridiculous:
— Sperry Garcia (@BostonJerry) November 19, 2017
-Trump picking a fight with Lavar Ball by name.
-Trump saying American citizens should have been left in Chinese jail
-Trump thinking he alone could decide whether they stayed in Chinese jail or not https://t.co/3Zdlj2joWw
LaVar Ball's response will determine whether I buy some Big Baller shoes this week
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) November 19, 2017
Every day he proves how much he does not know what the duty of a President is.
— Michael Dunn 🇯🇲🎹 (@MikeyD15) November 20, 2017
Praise is like sustenance to authoritarian leaders. Deprive him of that and he gets all out-of-sorts.
— Paul Witham (@pwitham11) November 20, 2017
That, plus the racism thing.
Oh grow up Donnie.
— Judi Abbott (@JudiAbbott5) November 20, 2017
Donald trump publicly beefing with Lavar ball is the season finale of 2017
— jackson 🤠(@Horse_Jeans) November 19, 2017
"And who could forget the feud between President Trump and LaVar Ball, which started over a pair of designer sunglasses" - A history professor in 100 years.
— Rogue WH Snr Advisor (@RogueSNRadvisor) November 19, 2017
