LeBron James is warning people of potential deception in the upcoming elections.
On Friday (Aug. 21), the NBA star castigated a Facebook ad that utilized his words to stray people away from mail-in voting.
Back in June, after reading a news article about the polling closures in Kentucky during the primary races, James retweeted the story, stating “Said it last week about GA. This is SYSTEMIC RACISM and OPPRESSION. So angry man. #BlackLivesMatter #MoreThanaVote”
The quote was recently used in the aforementioned ad, purchased by the political campaign Protect My Vote, insinuating his words were instead about the expansion of mail-in voting.
After getting wind of the post, the Lakers player took to Twitter to address the misrepresentation.
“First of all, everyone needs to know the kind of BS happening about this election and get organized,” James tweeted. “Secondly, Nobody should be able to use my name (or anyone else name) to lie and deceive about the election. Not sure what we can do legally but definitely trying to figure it out!”
James has been using his platform to ensure people, especially Black people, are able to vote in the 2020 presidential election. In June, he announced that he and some other A-listers formed the More Than a Vote organization to inspire African-Americans to register to vote and cast their ballot on Election Day.
“Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” James said shortly after the announcement. “How long is up to us. We don’t know. But, we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
The non-profit has already begun to make its mark. In July, they donated more than $100,000 toward the outstanding fines and court fees of former felons in Florida so they’d be able to cast their ballots.
The More Than a Vote organization will also team up with the Los Angeles Dodgers to turn the Dodger Stadium into a polling site this fall.