Since that monumentally controversial day back in November 2016, the political conversation has turned in more directions than our country could have prepared for. 

President Donald Trump hasn’t been easy on the American public, and in all fairness, the public hasn’t been easy on him. The aftermath has resulted in more opinions than we know what to do with, often without a way to reach those who have grown dangerously fond of their own. 

So why was I not surprised when Fox News host Laura Ingraham opened fire last week on NBA superstar LeBron James after he relayed his own opinions of the president in an episode of the sports web series, “Rolling With the Champion?” 

He took an Uber, riding through Ohio alongside fellow superstar Kevin Durant and ESPN broadcaster Cari Champion as they discussed their careers, interests and political views. 

When asked about Trump, neither of them held their punches, explaining the problems they have with his leadership. “The most important job in the world and he don’t understand the people,” James said. 

The clip went viral, and it wasn’t long before Ingraham picked up the story with intentions to humiliate the athletes instead of refute them. She focused mainly on James, calling his opinions “barely intelligible” and “ungrammatical,” as seen on a segment of her show, “The Ingraham Angle.”

After a couple minutes of condescension, Ingraham eventually arrived at the conclusion that a player like James is best suited to merely “shut up and dribble,” and to remain out of politics. 

Naturally, Ingraham’s clip also went viral, causing a number of listeners to call her retort racist for criticizing the way James and Durant spoke, said Emily Sullivan of NPR. 

This encouraged James to respond, then Ingraham another, and so on and so forth, and now here we are. The backlash for Ingraham’s comments did not go unnoticed, and neither did her efforts to restrict the discussion. 

Somewhere, someone will always have something more to add, no matter their background or whether a person like Ingraham is in favor of hearing it. A person cannot be prohibited from relaying his opinion if another person doesn’t like it. That “someone” this time around happened to be the best basketball player on the planet, who has the right to speak his mind just as much as any citizen in America.

Awakening a dated and frankly segregational mentality, Ingraham made it clear who she believes should be allowed to speak on not only politics, but anything, really. Replace the word “politics” with any other and suddenly you are limiting who is allowed to enter the conversation simply because someone’s expertise lies elsewhere. 

No one denies that political discourse is an important subject to be well-informed on, but that is not to say that unless James is a hardcore expert, he should defer from talking altogether. 

Moreover, the evidence of hypocrisy displayed by Ingraham is astounding, considering Fox News’ long history of hosting celebrities on its shows over the years, including Gene Simmons, Ted Nugent and Duane Chapman, according to CBS News. 

Not to mention Ingraham’s grammatical jabs and parodying of James’ and Durant’s voices is painfully pedantic and flat-out petty in the context of the bigger picture. Really, grammar? The conversation was about the future of our nation and that was the best she could do?

Apparently not, since just last week, she publicly invited James via Twitter to come on her show in what I can only assume is bait for getting him to open his mouth so she can tease him again. 

Whether he or Durant will take her up on that offer remains to be seen. One can only assume they are rather busy at the moment chasing a championship.