Eagles RB Saquon Barkley Hits Back at Critics After Golf Outing with Trump: ‘I Just Respect the Office’
Evan Vucci/AP
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley responded to critics Monday who took issue with him spending time with President Donald Trump.
Ahead of the Eagles’ visit to the White House on Monday, Barkley was seen traveling with the president at Joint Base Andrews. The two later arrived together at the White House.
Barkley received harsh scrutiny for the appearances with the president, which occurred just days after Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts seemingly hinted at not attending the traditional White House ceremony. When asked about the visit scheduled for Monday, Hurts remained silent.
In response, Barkley took to social media to explain his reasoning, saying:
lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT. Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with [Barack] 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.
Some on the internet, including political commentator Roland Martin, accused Barkley of being ill-informed of Trump based on his response.
“Well @saquon, you should have told @realDonaldTrump to respect other presidents, women and others,” Martin said in a tweet. “Did you tell him how he disrespected the office by leading the Jan. 6 insurrection? Did you tell him how he LIED about the 2020 election being rigged? Be better informed, bruh.”
Others argued that merely respecting the office didn’t justify Barkley decision to spend time Trump.
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