Proving, once-and-for-all, he has a tight relationship with 64-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping, 71-year-old Donald Trump asked his new friend for a favor to get UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley off the hook. In China to play their opening game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai, China Friday, Nov. 10, the three were accused of shoplifting a pair of sunglasses at the Louis Vuitton store Nov. 7 at an upscale shopping mall next to their Hyatt hotel in Hangzhou. With UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and Coach Steve Alford utterly flabbergasted, LiAngelo, Jalen and Cody were placed under house arrest inside the Hyatt hotel. Unable to play in the Shanghai game, the three players awaited their fate in the mercurial Chinese criminal justice system, with some experts predicting at least a month in custody.
Lucky for UCLA and the three players Trump was in Danang, Vietnam attending the East Asia Summit with Xi. Accused of racism by liberal press and most Black Nationalist groups, Trump went above-and-beyond the call of duty to prevail on Xi to resolve the matter quickly. Shoplifting in China could carry of years in prison, though most experts recognized that once the three athletes were returned from jail to house arrest at the Hyatt, it was a good sign. Chinese legal experts were dumbfounded by the preferential treatment given to foreigners, let alone high profile black basketball players. Trump asked Xi to help resolve the international incident quickly, to move on to the billions in trade deals and other urgent global matters like the growing crisis with North Korea. Despised by Black activists and the liberal press for his response to Aug. 12 Charlottesville race riots, Trump proved them wrong.
Getting the three black basketball players off the hook, the press is dumbfounded how to respond. Not only did Trump get them back to the States, he got all their charges dropped, leaving the players innocent of any alleged charges. UCLA officials and Coach Alford can’t punish the athletes with suspensions or evictions from the team without legal repercussions. If all charges against LiAngelo, Jalen and Cody were dropped by Chinese authorities, then there’s little UCLA can do to hold the student-athletes accountable. Former UCLA Star and NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton wanted UCLA to eject all players for the embarrassment to the university. Now they’ve been absolved of all charges, there’s little UCLA can do. “The basketball players, by the way—I know a lot of people are asking—I will tell you, when I heard about it two days ago, I had a great conversation with President Xi, Trump told the press.
Trump tried to explain to the press all he did to get the players off. “Xi was terrific, and they’re working on it right now,” Trump said. “And hopefully everything is going to work out. And I know they’re very grateful because they were told exactly what happened. But it’s a very, very rough situation with what happened to them,” showing all the political capital he spent getting the UCLA players free. Flying out on a Delta flight today, Trump proved the clout he has with China. It’s doubtful any other American president could have done the same thing. “Without instructions from above, they [would] not let the students out easily because the authorities want to prove foreigners are treated equally here,” aid Wen Yu, a Guangzhou-based lawyer. Trump went out on a limb for the three UCLA basketball players, putting his credibility on the line to get them out of China.
Trump antagonized the press disputing his AP-Ipsos approval rating of 38%, pointing out those same polls were shockingly off on Election Day. With today’s Rasmussen polls showing Trump with a 46% approval rating, the liberal press doesn’t know how to respond, other than to call Trump a liar. Springing three black UCLA basketball players out of Chinese detention is bound to help Trump’s sagging approval ratings in the liberal press. Whether the polls are accurate or not, they mirror the kind of negative press coverage reported on every cable and network news outlet except Fox News. Getting LiAngelo, Jalen and Cody out of China was a major PR coup for Trump. Had he done nothing, he would have been accused of being a racist. Trump’s liberal critics don’t know how to respond to recent developments other than not reporting on them in broadcast and print outlets.
Whatever criticism comes Trump’s way, he does what he thinks is right, this time going to bat for three black college basketball players. With all the urgent matters on his plate, Trump spent his political capital with Xi getting LiAngelo, Jalen and Cody off the hook. “Generally the process is slow,” said Tex Baio, visiting Chinese professor at New York University’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute. To get the three off, Trump had to make a personal plea to Xi to expedite the international incident. Whatever other prisoners of conscience around the globe, Trump went overboard to help the three UCLA basketball players. Before black activists or the liberal press slam Trump as a racist or white supremacist, including his vociferous critics in Congress, they need thank him for his good deeds. Politics must be parked at the door to acknowledge when something good happens defying the old narrative.
