WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff says NBA protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are “absurd and silly” when compared with the league’s relative silence about human rights violations in China, where U.S. pro basketball has a large audience.
Marc Short also tells CNN that “if they want to protest, I don't think we care.”
His comments came the day after the NBA postponed three scheduled playoff games, with the Milwaukee Bucks kicking off the boycott by refusing to leave their locker room for a game against the Orlando Magic.
The players' aim is to demand that lawmakers act to address police brutality and racial injustice.
