I would give three reasons in response to the deleted post by @diamondheadtiger about why NBA players would decline visiting the WH: 1. Steve Bannon, a known white supremacist, chosen as WH Chief of Staff. A change was made later, but the initial choice of SB speaks volumes about who DT cares about and is serving. 2. DTs response to Charlottesville, VA's racially motivated violence. The leader of the entire U.S. has to take a firm stand against that, not just say he understands both sides. That is not strong enough leadership, and reflects his priorities. This also goes back to the empathy characteristic I referred to initially. 3. Lastly, for NBA players, I think they look at the NFL players national anthem protest stand as one of racial priority. I don't personally agree with not standing for it as the right way to protest, but as the leader of the U.S., DT needs to be more saavy in massaging that issue. It's fine if he takes a firm stance on it, but in doing so he should recognize what the protest is about to begin with. He doesn't necessarily need to agree, but show some empathy as the leader of the free world. That would go a long way in demonstrating that he cares about all groups, not just a subset, and would result in minority groups having more respect for him, and feeling honored to visit the WH.
