Missouri GOP Senator and China Critic Blasts NBA Commissioner's Campaign Contribution to Biden

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley criticized NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Thursday after data from the Federal Election Commission showed Silver donating the maximum contribution permitted to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

"Of course he did. Now will Silver and the @NBA take the pledge to be #slavefree?" Hawley wrote on his Twitter account, with an article discussing Silver's donation from OutKick.com.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Silver donated $2,800 to Biden's presidential campaign. Data from the commission also shows the NBA commissioner making several more donations to Democratic candidates and political campaigns over the past few years, including donations to former President Barack Obama's reelection campaign in 2012.

The news of Silver's donation also sparked criticism from President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr.

"The @NBA's commissioner, who's completely in bed with China, backs #BeijingBiden. Makes sense," Trump Jr. wrote in a tweet posted on Thursday. "Wonder if Hunter's [Biden] getting a cut like he usually does?"

Hawley and Trump's references to China include the ongoing controversy between the sports league and the Asian nation. The issues between the two began in October 2019, after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted a tweet expressing his support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The protests began after the proposal of an extradition law that would allow Chinese authorities to detain and extradite individuals from Hong Kong.

The tweet, "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong" was deleted shortly after, but it sparked backlash from several Chinese companies, who decided to end their business ties with the NBA. Silver later confirmed that Chinese government officials called for Morey's firing.

This is not the first time Hawley has expressed disapproval towards the league.

On July 10, Hawley sent a letter to Silver, "blasting the league's apparent decision to strictly limit messages players can wear on their jerseys to a few pre-approved, social justice slogans while censoring support for law enforcement officers or the military and any criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," according to a press release from Hawley's website.

"The truth is that your decisions about which messages to allow and which to censor – much like the censorship decisions of the CCP – are themselves statements about your association's values," Hawley wrote in the letter. "If I am right – if the NBA is more committed to promoting the CCP's interests than to celebrating its home nation – your fans deserve to know that is your view. If not, prove me wrong. Let your players stand up for the Uighurs and the people of Hong Kong. Let them stand up for American law enforcement if they so choose. Give them the choice to write 'Back the Blue' on their jerseys. Or 'Support our Troops.' Maybe 'God Bless America.' What could be more American than that?"

Additionally, in October 2019, Hawley sent a similar letter to Silver, criticizing the league's "decision to side with the authoritarian Chinese government over protestors in Hong Kong." This letter came after Morey's tweets were published. Following his tweet, a spokesman for the NBA released a statement saying that it was "regrettable" that Morey's views "deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China."

Newsweek reached out to Hawley and the NBA for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.