Donald Trump Brushes Off NBA Protests, Rips League's TV Ratings

President Donald Trump gave the cold shoulder to the protests by NBA players in response to Jacob Blake’s shooting by the police in Kenosha, Wisc.

Admitting that he had token knowledge about the players’ decision to boycott Wednesday's playoff games, the POTUS proceeded to mock the NBA’s dipping ratings on television, linking it to his claim that the league is turning into a “political organization.”

“I know their ratings are very bad because I think people are a little tired of the NBA, frankly. But I don’t know too much about the protests, but I know their ratings have been very bad and that’s unfortunate,” Trump said during a storm briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters on Thursday.

“They have become like a political organization. And that’s not a good thing. I don’t think that’s a good thing for sports or for the country.”

Trump has always been vocal about his disapproval towards activism staged by athletes. In particular, he took a shot at the kneeling protests exhibited by NBA players during the national anthem when the league returned from a long hiatus earlier this month.

“The kneeling (during the national anthem) has been horrible for basketball,” Trump told Fox Sports.

“They’ve had horrible ratings, low numbers. People are angry about it. They have enough politics with guys like me. There was a nastiness about the NBA the way (protesting) was done. The NBA is in trouble, bigger trouble than they understand.”

Meanwhile, White House senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is taking a more lenient approach on the subject matter as an ESPN report even claimed that he is willing to have a dialogue with Los Angeles Lakers superstar, LeBron James.

"Look, I do think that peaceful protest has a place and it has importance," Kushner said. "But I do think that what we need to do right now is make sure that we take the anger that people have and we have to move from slogans to constructive solutions."

The Milwaukee Bucks spurred a sudden halt in the NBA Playoffs after they boycotted Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic. All other teams scheduled to play within the day followed suit as the players held an urgent meeting that led to the Lakers and Clippers allegedly voting to scrap the season.

NBA players and officials met again on Thursday morning as reports stated that the league has come into a general agreement to continue the rest of the postseason.

The actual date of the resumption, however, is still up for discussion.