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Putin To Visit China In October, Mulls Attending India G20 Summit

Putin To Visit China In October, Mulls Attending India G20 Summit

Perhaps feeling more confident and emboldened given the way things are currently going in Ukraine (Moscow has the upper-hand with widespread reports of a ‘stalled’ and failing Kiev counteroffensive), President Vladimir Putin is about to do some globetrotting.

Russia’s TASS is reporting Tuesday that he plans to visit China in October, which will be a significant first since the Ukraine invasion, and as both countries have faced down Washington sanctions as well as punitive efforts to isolate both. There are also emerging reports of a trip to India in the works for Putin, to attend the upcoming G20 summit, set for Sept. 9-10.

No firm date has yet to be agreed upon for the Beijing trip, says TASS. Starting in March of this year Chinese president Xi Jinping had issued a formal invitation for Putin to visit China. 

The Guardian and others had called it “a symbolic show of support after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s president over accusations of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.”

Xi, it must be recalled, has already gone to Moscow during the war, and has been under Western pressure to take a clear stance against Russian military aggression. But while touting an officially neutral stance, Beijing has frequently rebuked NATO’s expansion east.

And it didn’t help that NATO had contemplated opening up a liaison office in Japan, but which has been shelved amid angry Chinese denunciations and warnings. 

Adding to the pressure, and representative of the type of accusatory rhetoric that in recent years has pushed Putin and Xi closer together (resulting in pledges of “no limits” partnership and friendship), the head of MI6 accused China’s government of being “absolutely complicit” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sir Richard Moore said in a rare speech from Prague last week, “When Putin invaded Ukraine, the Chinese very clearly supported the Russians.”

“They have completely supported the Russians diplomatically, they’ve abstained in key votes at the United Nations, they’ve absolutely cynically repeated all the Russian tropes, particularly in places like Africa and Latin America – [by] blaming Nato and all of this stuff,” he added.

Meanwhile, Russian officials are gearing up for the major Russia-Africa Summit this week, with it still being an open question on whether Putin might attend in person. He recently canceled plans to attend the BRICS South Africa summit in person, related to the ICC arrest warrant and the fact that South Africa is under immense pressure to enforce it. Top of the agenda for the Russia-Africa summit will be the now collapsed Black Sea grain deal, and potential ‘alternative’ plans to supply Africa. 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 17:45

83% Of Democrats Deny There’s Any Border Crisis; Gallup Poll Finds

83% Of Democrats Deny There’s Any Border Crisis; Gallup Poll Finds

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

Gallup poll has revealed that a massive 83 percent of Democratic voters deny that there is any border crisis in the U.S. despite more than 7 million illegal immigrants being encountered since Joe Biden took office.

The poll notes that only 17% of Democrats believe there’s currently a crisis at the southwest border, a huge 20 point drop on figures recorded in 2019.

The gaslighting has worked!

The Gallup poll also found that 75% of Democrats say they’re “somewhat sympathetic” toward illegal immigrants currently living in the country, with 38% saying they are “very sympathetic.”

The findings come amid reports of some 40 percent of illegals who were caught and released into the country having never been seen or heard from again, with up to 80 percent not even being issued a court summons.

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 17:25

Trevor Reed, Ex-Marine Freed In Russian Prisoner Swap, Turns Up Wounded In Ukraine

Trevor Reed, Ex-Marine Freed In Russian Prisoner Swap, Turns Up Wounded In Ukraine

Trevor Reed was the US-declared “wrongfully detained” American military veteran released by Moscow in an April 2022 prisoner swap. He had spent three years of a total nine-year sentence a Russian jail, allegedly for injuring a police officer while intoxicated in 2019.

He and the US government had always maintained these were trumped-up charges, but it still led to Washington giving up Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian smuggler convicted of conspiring to import cocaine, during the prisoner swap. Reed’s declining health at the time also gave some urgency to the effort to free him. US officials had spent months negotiating the deal with the Kremlin, awkwardly while the Ukraine war raged in its opening months.

So one would think that after that ordeal, he would stay out of trouble or at least make wiser decision when abroad…

Reed was freed in April 2022 in a White House-orchestrated prisoner swap with the Kremlin, which took US officials many months to put together.

In a bizarre twist to a story that appeared finished, Reed – a former Marine – has turned up in Ukraine. What’s more is he was injured while fighting on behalf of Ukraine, a Biden administration official has confirmed Tuesday.

While it’s unclear when or where he was wounded inside Ukraine, the State Department in its fresh announcement sought to emphasize that he was “was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government,” according to spokesperson Vedant Patel.

Reed “has been transported to Germany and he is receiving medical care,” Patel said, describing than an NGO helped him get out of Ukraine.

According to details in The Messenger, which was the first to report the news Tuesday

The officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity due to Defense Department regulations, said they did not know the extent of Reed’s injuries but said he had suffered shrapnel wounds from the explosion. One of the sources said Reed was being treated in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and had requested transfer to an American military facility in either Germany or Poland. 

The sources also said that U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration over Reed’s case, in part because of regular State Department warnings to American citizens against travel to Ukraine, and especially given the lengths the U.S. went to free Reed from a Russian prison. 

The report indicates his case could have proven an embarrassment both for Ukraine and the US:

At some point in the last year, Reed joined a group of outside freelancers fighting on the side of the Ukrainian resistance against Russia. Thousands of Americans – it’s not clear exactly how many – are believed to have made the journey to fight in Ukraine.

The officials said that after Reed was injured, he wanted to return to the U.S. but was prevented from doing so due to an issue involving his contract with Ukrainian forces. Reed then wanted to take his story to the press, the sources said, as a way to complain about his treatment in Ukraine and advocate for U.S. government help in his evacuation.

“[Reed] had to be talked off a ledge about going to the media,” said one of the U.S. military officials, but the threat of publicity has apparently helped.

And for the kicker, a US military official said:

“My own interpretation is that he got what he wanted, he wanted help out of Ukraine, the [Biden] administration doesn’t want negative Ukraine press, so he got help.”

Early after the Feb. 2022 Russian invasion, there seemed to be quiet support or even enthusiasm from Washington (and much more open enthusiasm from UK officials) for Ukraine’s foreign legion. Young men, especially military veterans, traveled there in droves. 

But increasingly, Western authorities have discouraged it, especially given the prospect of it potentially resulting in more US/UK citizens being killed or captured. 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 17:05

The White House Suddenly Changes Long-Standing Position Of President On Hunter Biden’s Foreign Deals

The White House Suddenly Changes Long-Standing Position Of President On Hunter Biden’s Foreign Deals

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Starting with his campaign for the presidency and continuing until this week, President Joe Biden has maintained one clear and consistent position on his son’s influence peddling schemes. As a virtual mantra, Biden — and the White House staff — have categorically maintained that he had no knowledge of any foreign dealings of his son. 

That has been proven to be a lie, but Biden continued to maintain the position. Yet, on the eve of the testimony of a key Biden associate, the White House has changed its position. Now the President is only claiming that he was “not in business” with his son.Some of us have written multiple columns over the last four years arguing that the President was clearly and knowingly lying in his denials of knowledge and discussions of these deals. Even when he made the statement, it was clearly untrue but most of the media shrugged and happily walked away.

Then the evidence began to mount.

The laptop includes pictures and appointments of Hunter’s foreign business associates with Joe Biden. There is also a recording of Joe Biden discussing a Times report on Dec. 12, 2018, detailing Hunter’s dealings with Ye Jianming, the head of CEFC China Energy Company. He assures his son that “I think you’re clear” after lawyers worked on the New York Times before the story ran.

There is also a recording of his uncle James assuring Hunter that he and his father were going to arrange for “safe harbor” for him as his world began to collapse.

Then there is the July 30, 2017 Whatsapp message from Hunter Biden to one of his Chinese associates, Henry Zhao, the director of Harvest Fund Management and Communist Party official. Zhao was funneling money to Hunter’s firm BHR Partners. Hunter is quoted as writing:

“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”

Nevertheless, the White House has maintained the total denial . . . until this week before the testimony of Devon Archer.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked by Fox News journalist Gillian Turner:

“Chairman James Comer today says that the Oversight Committee has evidence that the president in the past communicated directly with foreign business associates of his son Hunter Biden many times. Curious if the White House and the president still stand behind his comment that he’s never been involved and has never even spoken to his son about his business?

The response from Jean-Pierre was surprising:

“So, I’ve been I’ve been asked this question a million times. The answer is not going to change. The answer remains the same. The president was never in business with his son. I just don’t have anything else to add.”

It takes an utter contempt for the intelligence of the public to insist that “the answer remains the same” and then give an entirely new answer. However, that is only if most of the public is informed of the contradiction. None of the media in the White House press corp followed up on Turner’s questions when Jean-Pierre immediately moved on.

If that is now the new spin of the President, it is about four years too late. The President assured the public repeatedly and consistently that he never discussed or knew of these dealings even as evidence mounted in contradiction. He made this false denial part of his presidency in having his staff echo the same denials to the press and the public. As allegations of bribery and influence peddling swirl around the White House, this pattern of dishonest and denial can become a basis for impeachment inquiries, as it was with Nixon.

It is tempting to say that the President is being too clever by half, but this was never particularly clever. Biden was counting on the media watching his back and hoping that he could hold both houses of Congress. The problem is that the media blackout was not total and he lost the House. Now these denials and conflicting accounts are threatening the possibility that he could lose much more than his political standing. If the evidence continues to contradict his blanket denials, Biden could lose his office.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 16:45

WTI Slides After API Reports Surprise Crude Build

WTI Slides After API Reports Surprise Crude Build

Oil prices extended recent gains today – back near the OPEC-Cut spike levels from April – helped by tighter supplies and optimism that China’s government will boost the country’s economy. As Bloomberg reports, China, the world’s largest crude importer, indicated more support for the real estate sector alongside pledges to boost consumption on Monday.

WTI also closed back above its 200-day moving-average, which for now is acting as fresh support.

“Near-term, the market is going to look at U.S. inventory numbers to see whether they indicate an elevated level of exports, which would indicate how tight Asian markets especially are,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.

“That would be a signal about both Chinese demand and Russian oil exports.”

API

  • Crude +1.319mm (-2.2mm exp)

  • Cushing -2.34mm

  • Gasoline -1.043mm (-1.7mm exp)

  • Distillates +1.614mm (-600k exp)

After a small draw last week, expectations were for a larger drop in crude inventories this week, but API reported a surprise 1.3mm barrel build. Cushing saw another sizable draw but Distillates’ surprised with a 3rd weekly build in a row…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI was hovering around $79.60 ahead of the API print and kneejerked lower…

Finally, we note that WTI’s prompt spread is at 43 cents a barrel in backwardation – the highest since November, signaling that physical markets are still parched for crude.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 16:37

Microsoft Drops Despite Solid Q2 Earnings Beat As Attention Turns To Slowing Cloud Growth

Microsoft Drops Despite Solid Q2 Earnings Beat As Attention Turns To Slowing Cloud Growth

After another solid day for tech which saw the Nasdaq rise 0.7% and the Dow closed green for 12th consecutive day, its longest stretch since Feb 2017, yet where volumes were rather muted ahead of today’s mega cap earnings barrage and tomorrow’s Fed announcement, moments ago we got results from two tech giants, Microsoft and Alphabet (Google), both of which reported much stronger than expected results, yet where the stock reactions were polar opposite with GOOGL spiking after results while MSFT slumping (at least until the company provides its guidance during the earnings call in a few minutes).

We summarize Google’s results in a separate post, and focus on MSFT here. And so, without further ado, this is what the company that spawned clippy and chatGPT just reported:

  • Revenue $56.19 billion, beating the consensus estimate $55.49 billion
    • Productivity and Business Processes revenue $18.29 billion, beating consensus estimate $18.1 billion
    • Intelligent Cloud revenue $23.99 billion, beating consensus estimate $23.8 billion
    • More Personal Computing revenue $13.91 billion, estimate $13.58 billion
  • Revenue at constant currency +10%, estimate +8.52%
  • EPS $2.69, beating exp. $2.55
  • Operating income $24.25 billion, beating estimates of $23.28 billion
  • Capital expenditure $8.94 billion, beating estimates of $7.85 billion

Of note: annual sales growth moderated to 7% in 2023 after five straight years of increases above 10%. Microsoft fired 10,000 workers in the March quarter, including in key businesses like Azure and security software. The company also made a smaller number of additional layoffs in July, in areas like sales and support.

Here is the full financial summary:

Despite beating estimates, the prevailing view was that Microsoft reported “tepid” fourth-quarter sales growth, held back by decelerating demand for cloud-computing services – according to Bloomberg – while the software maker waits for a revenue boost from new artificial intelligence-powered products.

Indeed, while overall results topped analysts’ projections, and Azure cloud services revenue was also higher than expected, cloud growth slowed to 27% (excluding currency fluctuations), from 31% in the previous quarter.

In recent months, CEO Satya Nadella has unveiled an array of new AI programs — based on models from partner OpenAI — for most of Microsoft’s major product lines, and demand is surging for internet-based services that let customers use the OpenAI technologies.

Still, the company’s Office productivity suite including AI isn’t yet broadly available, and overall spending on Azure services and Office applications is easing after several years of rising corporate investments. At the same time, personal computer shipments dropped for the sixth quarter in a row, eroding sales of Windows software and Surface devices.

In fact, one may almost ask if AI is more hope and hype than actual revenue.

“Clients who had been gung ho on cloud came back and said, ‘We’d better optimize what we bought,’” said Mark Moerdler, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “You won’t see huge tailwinds from AI — it will be incremental.”

The shares fell about 1.5% following the report, after climbing to $350.98 at the close in New York, before recouping some losses.

The stock rose 18% in the three months ending in June, outpacing the 8.3% increase in the S&P 500 Index in that period. Last week, shares of Microsoft reached a record high, fueled by optimism for new AI strategies and products.

That said, the entire weakness after hours may be reversed momentarily when MSFT “will provide forward-looking guidance in connection with this quarterly earnings announcement”, something it does not do in its press release… and of course expect several dozen mentions of “AI.”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 16:32

“Something Very Strange Has Happened”: Albert Edwards Stunned By “The Maddest Macro Chart I Have Seen In Many Years”

“Something Very Strange Has Happened”: Albert Edwards Stunned By “The Maddest Macro Chart I Have Seen In Many Years”

Two weeks ago, we showed that as interest rates inexorably keep rising ever higher as the Fed’s crusade to tame inflation (which the Fed unleashed three years ago) reaches a crescendo, arguably the most significant consequence of this relentless creep higher in rates is that the annual payment on US Federal debt is about to hit $1 trillion, surpassing how much the US pays every year on defense!

Yet while the motley composition of US federal debt – which ranges from a few days for T-Bills to 30 Years for Bonds  – means that the impact of higher rates is relatively quick to pass through to actual interest payment cash outflows, other debt portfolios have far better insulation from the most aggressive Fed tightening cycle since Volcker, which while superficially beneficial to the issuer, could have profoundly adverse impacts for the broader economy as the Fed is forced to keep rates far higher for much longer, which crushes ordinary retail borrowers who, unlike most corporations, didn’t have the ability to issue debt maturing many years from now back in 2020 and 2021 when rates hit record lows.

This brings us to what SocGen’s Albert Edwards has dubbed the “maddest macro chart I have seen for many years.”

In his latest Global Strategy Weekly note, the SocGen permabear turns “to the strangest chart I have seen for a very long time, or rather a series of charts.” This is how he frames it.

We can see clearly from the Fed’s Z1 (table L103) that the US corporate sector is a massive net borrower. Normally when interest rates rise, so too do net debt payments, squeezing profit margins and slowing the economy. BUT NOT THIS TIME. Corporate net interest payments have instead collapsed (H/T my derivatives colleague, Jitesh Kumar). What on earth is going on?

And here is the maddest macro chart in question:

As Edwards elaborates, he was “so surprised when I saw Jitesh’s chart (above), I assumed it was a mistake and emailed the SG macro-network for help. No, the chart is correct. The data comes from the BEA GDP press release (table 11 line 9). Raw net interest payments in $bn are shown as the red line below.”

The next chart leads the SocGen skeptic to conclude that “something very strange has happened, and it helps explain the recession’s tardy.”

So what has happened? Well, as Edwards concludes, a sizeable proportion of the “huge, fixed rate borrowings during 2020/21 still survives on company balance sheets in variable rate deposits (see Z1 table L103)” meaning that corporations continue to benefit from locking in the ultra low rates of 2020 and 2021 even as their cash interest income are soaring. Indeed, as the SocGen strategist adds, “companies have effectively played the yield curve in reverse and become net beneficiaries of higher rates, adding 5% to profits over the last year instead of deducting 10%+ from profits as usual (chart below).”

Putting it all together, Edwards says that “it’s not just ‘Greedflation’ that has boosted US profit margins and delayed the recession ” – here Edwards is referring to a recently popular theory especially among socialists, that corporations are “greedy” and take advantage of naive, gullible consumers by spiking prices, which of course is what all capitalist corporations are supposed to do, and they will hike prices until demand finally drops. Needless to say, we disagree with this theory. We do however agree with his punchline: “Interest rates simply aren’t working as they once did. It is indeed a mad, mad world”

More in the full Edwards note available to professional subscribers in the usual place.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 16:30

Alphabet Soars After-Hours Following Top- & Bottom-Line Beat

Alphabet Soars After-Hours Following Top- & Bottom-Line Beat

The big question into Alphabet’s earnings was what progress they had made on monetizing the AI promise without cannibalizing the company’s main moneymaker – search advertising; and just how much capex they blew on NVDA chips to feed the LLM-processing beast.

Daniel O’Regan, a managing director of equity trading at Mizuho Securities, wrote that “this is one of the most important earnings seasons in recent memory. The tape has rallied so hard and so fast, it’s almost like a game of musical chairs. People are wondering if/when will the music stop especially in single stocks.”

So how did Alphabet do?

The headline is strong top- and bottom-line beats:

  • *ALPHABET 2Q REV. $74.60B, EST. $72.77B

  • *ALPHABET 2Q EPS $1.44, EST. $1.32

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, said:

There’s exciting momentum across our products and the company, which drove strong results this quarter. Our continued leadership in AI and our excellence in engineering and innovation are driving the next evolution of Search, and improving all our services. With fifteen products that each serve half a billion people, and six that serve over two billion each, we have so many opportunities to deliver on our mission.”

Under the hood, it was just as impressive with every unit beating expectations and no signs of search advertising being impacted by AI…

  • Google advertising revenue $58.14 billion, estimate $57.45 billion

  • YouTube ads revenue $7.67 billion, estimate $7.41 billion

  • Google other revenue $8.14 billion, estimate $7.17 billion

  • Google Services revenue $66.29 billion, estimate $64.67 billion

  • Google Cloud revenue $8.03 billion, estimate $7.83 billion

  • Other Bets revenue $285 million, estimate $231.7 million

Google Cloud has delivered another profitable quarter. After turning a profit for the first time last quarter, investors were eager to see if the unit could repeat that performance this time.

One additional point is that Alphabet and Google CFO Ruth Porat will assume the newly created role of President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, effective September 1, 2023.

Ruth will continue to serve as CFO, including leading the company’s 2024 and long-range capital planning processes, while the company searches for and selects her
successor.

In her new role, Ruth will continue to report to Sundar Pichai, Alphabet and Google CEO. Ruth assumed the role of CFO in May 2015 and is the company’s longest-serving CFO. In her new role, Ruth will be responsible for Alphabet’s investments in its Other Bets portfolio, working closely with Sundar, and the company’s investments in countries and communities around the world. Alphabet’s investments span numerous sectors and are engines of economic growth globally. She will also focus on engagement with policymakers and regulators regarding employment, economic opportunity, competitiveness, and infrastructure expansion.

GOOGL shares are up over 7% in the after-hours,above $130 – its highest since April 2022…

Finally, one possible debbie-downer in the GOOGL earnings was a disappointment in capex:

  • Capital expenditure $6.89 billion, estimate $8.01 billion

How will the market react to that at a time when expectations were for buying-panics in AI-related chips?

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 16:15

Watch: Rand Paul Slams Virologists Who Warned Of “Shit Show” If COVID Lab-Leak Theory Wasn’t Shut Down

Watch: Rand Paul Slams Virologists Who Warned Of “Shit Show” If COVID Lab-Leak Theory Wasn’t Shut Down

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

In an interview Monday, Senator Rand Paul took aim at several virologists who apparently agreed that pursuing evidence concerning a Coronavirus lab leak in Wuhan would cause a “shit show” of problems with China, and that it was better to dismiss the notion out of hand.

“This was never about science. This was about the business of science. It was about the money,” Paul urged.

The Senator added, “Follow the money trail, and you see millions of dollars exchanging hands in the first few months of 2020 to the people who came out and said ‘nothing to see here couldn’t have happened in the lab’.”

Last week during a House Oversight Committee hearing, a report was shared containing messages from 2020 between British virologist Dr. Andrew Rambaut and Drs. Kristian Andersen, Edward Holmes and Robert Garry.

Rambaut wrote that “Given the shit show that would happen if anyone serious accused the Chinese of even accidental release, my feeling is we should say that given there is no evidence of a specifically engineered virus, we cannot possibly distinguish between natural evolution and escape so we are content with ascribing it to natural process.”

Referring to Dr Andersen, Paul noted “[T]he one lead virologist who’s saying it’s all kooky and conspiracy theory to say it came to the lab — He’s saying in private, this is no conspiracy theory. This is not a fringe theory. In all likelihood, it could have come from the lab — But they’re in public, they print an article that Anthony Fauci commissions.”

Indeed, as we have highlighted, Andersen did a compete 180 after Anthony Fauci contacted him.

“None of them believe that they knew with certainty that it wasn’t, but they thought it would harm the business of science and would harm our relations with China if it became known that this came from a lab in China,” Paul emphasised.

The Senator added that there has never been a cover up in which it “was so completely documented that they were lying to us.”

Elsewhere during the interview, Paul gave an update on a mysterious fire that practically destroyed his main Senate office in Kentucky last week.

Watch:

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 12:40

LeBron James’ 18-Year-Old Son Suffers Heart Attack During Practice

LeBron James’ 18-Year-Old Son Suffers Heart Attack During Practice

Another day, another 18-year-old athlete in peak physical condition suddenly collapsing.

On Monday, Bronny James, the eldest son of LA Lakers star LeBron James, suffered a heart attack during practice at USC.

James was rushed to the ICU, and is now in stable condition, ESPN reports.

Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest,” said a James family spokesperson in a statement. “Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU. We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information.

“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”

James, 18, is entering his freshman year at USC and is ranked 20th in the 2023 ESPN 100 rankings. He is the sixth-rated point guard in the class of 2023.

It is the second straight year the Trojans program has had a player suffer cardiac arrest.

Center Vincent Iwuchukwu, one of the top incoming freshman in college basketball last season, suffered cardiac arrest on July 1 and was hospitalized for a few days. He returned to play for USC in January, appearing in 14 games. -ESPN

Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who resumed his career following a mid-game heart attack during a “Monday Night Football” game last season, tweeted support for James.

Of course, it couldn’t have possibly been the vaccine – as you see, LeBron James researched it and gave it a clean bill of health.

“After doing my research and things of that nature, I felt like it was best suited not only for me, but for my family and for my friends, and that’s why I decided to do it,” said James in Sept. 2021, adding that he was initially skeptical about the vaccine before deciding to get it.

Seems like Twitter has a few theories:

 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/25/2023 – 12:25