Vice President Mike Pence has accused the NBA and Nike of bowing down to the Chinese government at the expense of American values in order to make money.
“Some of the NBA’s biggest players and owners, who routinely exercise their freedom to criticize this country, lose their voices when it comes to the freedom and rights of the people of China,” Pence said Thursday during an address in Washington. “In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime.”
ABC:
Retired NBA superstar Charles Barkley had harsh words for Mike Pence on Thursday after the vice president accused the league of acting as a “wholly owned subsidiary” of China.
“Vice President Pence needs to shut the hell up,” Barkley said on “Inside the NBA” on TNT, which is a part of WarnerMedia, along with CNN. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was on the panel as well.
“I don’t understand why these holier-than-thou politicians, if they’re so worried about China, why don’t they stop all transactions with China?” he continued, adding, “I think it’s unfair for them to do all their business in China, and just because this thing happened, try to make the NBA and our players look bad. All American companies do business in China. Period.”
CNN:
