Well, it finally happened. President Donald Trump has entered the world of sports. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Don got sick of criticizing federal judges, award-winning actors, lifelong servants of this country and the 122-time Pulitzer Prize winning FAKE NEWS New York Times before he turned to world-renowned sport icons.
Now that I think about it, it’s not the first time Trump has “stepped into the ring” of sports. Back in 2007, Donald J. featured his athletic prowess in WWE wrestling. Standing in suit and tie in the middle of the wrestling ring, the Leader of the Free World shaved the head of WWE owner Vince McMahon while the latter was tied to a chair. Much bravery, such Trump.
That’s not to mention this past June when a video went viral of golf club tycoon Trump driving a golf cart on the green (which is one of the first things you learn not to do in golf) at the very course where, in the following month, the Women’s U.S. Open was being held. I normally don’t deal in hypotheticals, but would that have happened if, a month later, the Men’s U.S. Open were being held at that course? I would say this is terribly rude and irresponsible, but the name of the course is Trump National Golf Club, so I guess it’s fine?
More recently, Trump used a rally in Alabama as a platform for his newly voiced opinions. He spoke about a handful of NFL players that kneel during the national anthem, citing their silent and peaceful protest as a way to bring attention to racial inequality. Trump stated that NFL owners should be firing those players who kneel as a punishment for “disrespecting our flag.”
Making his opinion known, however, wasn’t enough, as there were clearly additional, necessary steps to be taken.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now,’” the President of the United States said. “Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!”
Not only is it sad that our president can’t acknowledge the fact that there is racial disparity in our nation, but it’s also sad that he feels the need to punish anyone who disagrees with him. I wish our president wasn’t ignorant to the fact that, as a white, upper-class male, it’s harder for him to recognize oppression across demographic boundaries since he’s at the top of our social hierarchy. I wish our president took the time to realize that these people standing up – or kneeling – against racial disparity are taking a great risk to do so, leading me to believe there might be a good reason for it.
I miss the days of Bush and Obama, the only two presidents I’ve ever consciously known. I miss those days because those were days when I could listen to the most powerful person on earth and hear a speech that not only inspires progress, but also leaves out language inappropriate for prime-time television.
This was all in the same speech in which Trump said the reason the NFL ratings are “massively, massively” down, even though they’re only down 8 percent from 2015 to 2016, is because “they like watching what’s happening with yours truly.”
Between Trump’s obsession with people watching him and his frequent tweets about Hillary Clinton, the opponent he defeated nearly an entire year ago, I’d say the Don should be more worried about his glaring, prolonged insecurities of male dominance than he should be about how many people watch the NFL.
However, Trump didn’t give the sports community much time to dwell on this speech. By the next morning, Trump had already taken to Twitter to cast judgment upon yet another individual.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” Trump tweeted. “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”
Trump’s very quick and relatively irrational decision (the same kind of decision that’s not good when you are tossing back-and-forth nuclear threats with another country) came after Curry said he didn’t want to go to the White House. Isn’t that kind of like when, as a kid, you ask someone for something and they don’t give it to you, so you say something along the lines of, “Well I didn’t want it anyway?” Great to see the behaviors of adolescents reflected in the Oval Office.
Think I’m crazy? Think I’m overreacting when I say that a president giving a speech on this is nonsense? Maybe this Donald Trump tweet from 2013 will change your mind.
“President [Obama] should not be telling the Washington Redskins to change their name – our country has far bigger problems!” Trump tweeted. “FOCUS on them, not nonsense.”
Sadly, I don’t think this column is going to inspire our fearless leader to delete his tweets or reel back on the profanity in speeches. All we can do is hope he gives the sports community a break and returns to politics. But, on the other hand, according to the latest Gallup poll showing his 37 percent approval rating, maybe most people hope he just sticks to sports.
