NEW YORK: US First lady Melanie Trump has weighed in against her husband in a war of words with basketball superstar LeBron James. The dispute is over LeBron James' contention that President Donald Trump is “using sports to divide people” which he said during an interview to CNN earlier this week.

Trump publicly questioned the intelligence of NBA star LeBron James, who has yet to respond publicly.

In a statement released by her spokeswoman, the first lady Melania Trump stated the three-time NBA champion “is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the First Lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today.”

The statement from Melania also promoted campaign against child cyber-bullying and added that the first lady was “open” to the prospect of visiting James’ school for low-income youth, which he announced this week.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2018