McIlroy slams Trump’s “terrible” handling of Covid-19 crisis

John Craven
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Rory McIlroy (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

John Craven

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Not for the first time, Rory McIlroy’s changed his tune, and at just 31-years of age, what harm?

In 2017, the Holywood star took up an invite to join then US President Donald Trump for a game of golf – SPOILER ALERT: He’s still in Office – and was swiftly labelled a white supremacist by keyboard warriors for doing so. At the time, McIlroy defended his actions, saying “whether you respect the person who holds that position or not, you respect the office that he holds.”

Well, three years later and the meditating, book worm that is golf’s current top dog has an altogether different view. It seems whatever respect the Donald once held from his ivory tower on Pennsylvania Avenue has since fallen by the wayside.

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“I’ll sit here and say the day that I did spend with him and others was very enjoyable,’’ McIlroy said on the excellent  McKellar Podcast. “He’s very charismatic, he was nice to everyone — it didn’t matter whether you were me or guys in the cart barn or the pro at the golf club.

“He has something. He obviously has something or he wouldn’t be in the White House, right? He has something — whatever it is, an X factor, charisma, whatever. Most people that he came across that day he was cordial to, he was nice and personable. That was my only interaction with him the day I had with him.

“But,’’ McIlroy warned, “that doesn’t mean that I agree with everything, or in fact, anything that he says.’’

So, why play with Trump in the first instance Rory? For me, there’s so many reasons:

The mystique surrounding his dubious 2 handicap, how his tiny hands grip a club, the forgetful scorekeeping, does he remove his hat when shaking hands on the 18th green, how his hand would look in my hand, what does his hat hair look like, to trick him into saying CHYNA, how orange is he, does he have tan lines, would I be able to see the tiny monkey hiding inside the torso controlling the robot and oh, just the opportunity to tell my grandkids that I rode in a cart for four hours next to the man whose tiny fingers once hovered over the nuclear codes. I mean, how could you not be curious?

But since that day in 2017, things have changed dramatically. For starters, McIlroy is older and wiser and Trump is… older. We’re also going through an unprecedented global pandemic that the US President thinks you can drink Domestos to treat. I mean, McIlroy and Trump may have shared a buggy that day three years ago but the cart has since split in two and they’ve both careered down very different paths so no wonder then, that McIlroy now sees the President in a very different light.

“We’re in the midst of something that’s pretty serious right now and the fact that he’s trying to politicise it and make it a campaign rally and say we’re administering the most tests in world like it is a contest — there’s something that just is terrible,’’ McIlroy said.

“It’s not the way a leader should act. There’s a sort of diplomacy that you need to have, and I don’t think he’s showing that — especially in these times.’’

So, the big question, three years on; would McIlroy tee it up with Trump again?

“I don’t know if he’d want to play with me again after what I just said. But no, I wouldn’t.”

And it’s not that the opportunities haven’t been there. The four-time Major winner has since been invited by the supreme leader but admits he turned down round two, “out of choice”.

 

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12 responses to “McIlroy slams Trump’s “terrible” handling of Covid-19 crisis”

  1. Christy mcguirk avatar
    Christy mcguirk

    Well john why didn’t you just say he wouldn’t play with trump again without us having to read your politicising about the issues just so you could indulge in your obsessive trump bashing,

    1. Sicini avatar
      Sicini

      Pleb

    2. george Thomson avatar
      george Thomson

      John has every right to his opinions and furthermore so does Rory. If one feels Trump is doing a good job then one can say that and surely the opposite stands the test also. I know this Coronavirus has badly affected many businesses to the extent of many having to close down but that’s nothing whatsoever to do with giving an unbiased answer like Rory did. The problem here is when one does have a business it’s difficult to be balanced in one’s thinking which is totally understandable.

  2. Ray Martin avatar
    Ray Martin

    The American Dream
    x Donald J Trump =
    An American Nightmare +
    An International Embarrassment.
    ?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️

  3. Richard avatar
    Richard

    No matter what you say,John,there will be a keyboard warrior lying in wait with his default , whining outlook.

  4. Ivan Morris avatar
    Ivan Morris

    Bravo!

  5. Sicini avatar
    Sicini

    Pleb

  6. Louise Farrell avatar
    Louise Farrell

    Trump gives golf a bad name. McIlroy is right.

  7. gordon avatar
    gordon

    Rory, you just stick to your golf. and leave running the USA to president Trump.nobody is interested in your political views.

    1. Robert Barry avatar
      Robert Barry

      Absolutely right and well said.

  8. george Thomson avatar
    george Thomson

    Rory has showed courage and insight and I back him 100%. Any top golfer with similar views and stays silent is gutless. Any top golfer who supports Trumps trumpeting is just plain wrong.

  9. Ger Slater avatar
    Ger Slater

    All fake bar Fox the most toxic news channel- so biased it’s unbelievable

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