Recent NBA Finals champion LeBron James spoke out on Oct. 12 against Donald Trump’s recently leaked remarks, in which the Republican presidential candidate said in 2005, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful, I just start kissing them…when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Trump referred to his past comments as "locker room talk," but James joined the ranks of other athletes who are rejecting this notion.
LeBron on Donald Trump: "That's not locker room talk. That's trash talk."
When asked about what locker room talk is to him, James responded, "It's not what that guy said. We don’t disrespect women in no shape or fashion in our locker rooms. That never comes up."
"What that guy was saying, that’s not, I don’t know what that is," James continued. "That’s trash talk."
James has not shied away from sharing his political opinions. Earlier this summer at the ESPY Awards, the basketball player delivered a powerful message about gun violence and racial justice alongside NBA players Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade.
And on Oct. 2, the Cleveland Cavaliers all-star endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in an op-ed for Business Insider.
"We must all stand together — no matter where we are from or the color of our skin. And Hillary is running on the message of hope and unity that we need," James wrote.
Here's LeBron James' full statement on Trump's remarks:
"What is locker room talk to me? It's not what that guy said. We don’t disrespect women in no shape or fashion in our locker rooms. That never comes up. Obviously I’ve got a mother-in-law, a wife, a mom, and a daughter, and those conversations just don’t go on in a locker room. What goes on in a locker room is sporting events that went on the night before, about family, about strategies that we may have that night, about a highlight that may have happened. You know, if there was a home run in the bottom of the ninth or if there was an alley-oop dunk from a player the night before. That’s what happens in our locker room but what that guy was saying, that’s not, I don’t know what that is. That’s trash talk."