The man whom President Donald Trump, 79, unceremoniously dumped as head of the Kennedy Center in March spent his Sunday evening on X, fuming over Magic Johnson’s political alliances.
Richard Grenell, 59, called the L.A. Lakers legend “beyond pathetic” after watching a video Johnson made endorsing L.A. mayor Karen Bass for a second term.
“Los Angeles is in terrible shape and you want Karen Bass to be re-elected because she’s your friend?! What a selfish move,” Grenell, whose tenure at the Kennedy Center was mired in cancellations and boycotts, wrote, tagging Johnson.
Bass had posted the endorsement video on her own X account just hours earlier.
“Magic Johnson has been my friend for over 30 years. His belief in how I’m changing Los Angeles means everything to me. Magic has poured his heart into this city long before anyone asked him to—through investment, through community, through showing up. I am deeply honored to have his endorsement,” she posted alongside the clip.
In the video, Johnson listed some of the things he’s been impressed with over the duration of Bass’s first term.
“She sustained the first ever consecutive decrease in homelessness. The Homicide rate is down. New housing units: 40,000. I mean she’s doing a tremendous job,” Johnson says, not focusing on their friendship.
“Mayor Bass has to have a second term and I’m excited to say that,” he continued. “You took on a tough job and you’ve done a fabulous job and all of us appreciate it.”
But Grenell, who lists his location on X as ‘LA, Rancho Mirage,’ a wealthy resort city in the Coachella Valley not part of the City of L.A., was furious at Johnson for the endorsement.
He followed up on his first post by reposting another critic’s response to Johnson’s endorsement. It pointed out that Johnson lives in a gated community in Beverly Hills, “tucked into a canyon, and guarded by a 24/7 armed security detail.”
Grenell, who has moved on from his ambition to be Trump’s Secretary of State, is the founder of Fix California, a right-wing advocacy group that wants to “restore the promise of the Golden State,” which has been decimated by “the left’s stranglehold”.
In his Fix California bio, Grenell doesn’t mention his disastrous tenure at the Kennedy Center, and instead claims his most recent role in the administration was “Acting Director of National Intelligence in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.”
Johnson did not respond to Grenell’s posts.
