Philadelphia Eagles player Saquon Barkley has spoken out after being criticized for golfing with President Donald Trump.
The Super Bowl-winning running back and Trump were at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Sunday, causing many people to question if this was Barkley’s way of showing his support for the president after his teammate, Jalen Hurts, refused to speak about the Eagles celebrating their Super Bowl win at the White House.
On Monday, Barkley shared a post on X regarding the golf match. “lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” he wrote. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand.”
The running back continued to defend himself, pointing out that he had previously played golf with a former U.S. president last October.
“Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day,” the post ended.
Barkley’s golf outing with the president came days after his teammate, Hurts, avoided speaking about visiting the White House while at the Time100 gala on Friday.
“Are you planning on visiting the White House next week?” a reporter asked Hurts on the red carpet.
The quarterback replied, saying, “Umm,” before looking around and silently staring at the camera for a few seconds before walking away.
Despite not visiting the White House after their Super Bowl win in 2018, the Eagles will be showing up in Washington, D.C. on Monday to celebrate their most recent Super Bowl victory from February.
The team declined the offer in 2018 over Trump’s opposition to players kneeling during the National Anthem, which was used at the time as a silent protest against police brutality, especially against minorities.
After learning that the team was planning to boycott the visit, the White House rescinded its invitation.
While fans were initially unsure whether or not the team would be extended an invitation or even accept one, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed during a March 11 press briefing that the team would visit.
“I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn’t sent or was sent, we want to correct the record, we sent an invitation,” she said. “They enthusiastically accepted, and you will see them here on April 28.”
The Eagles’ head coach, Nick Sirianni, also confirmed the team’s attendance to reporters on April 1. “What an honor to be able to go to the White House,” he said.
“Teams that have been able to win championships have been doing that for a long time, and I’m really honored to go and really excited to go.”
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