Saquon Barkley is facing major backlash following his outing with Donald Trump!
In case you didn’t see, the Philadelphia Eagles running back traveled to D.C. over the weekend… to play a round of golf with the President. The team is already scheduled to visit the White House on Monday to celebrate their Super Bowl win. That already doesn’t sit right with a lot of fans, considering who the POTUS is at the moment. But the fact Saquon went early for some leisure time with Trump is WAY over the line for critics!
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On X (Twitter), the 28-year-old defended his decision amid backlash. He wrote on Monday morning:
“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 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
“
“This is a BIG change in tone considering the Eagles didn’t even visit the White House for their Super Bowl win in 2018 due to Trump’s consistently racist and sexist comments. We mean, going to be honored for a big win is one thing — this guy is just straight up spending the afternoon with him like they’re besties. Plus, comparing this to golfing with Barack Obama? We don’t remember Obama denouncing kneeling during the national anthem, calling both sides of a Nazi rally “fine people”, removing any evidence of Black military and sports heroes from national sites, etc etc etc.
In the replies, fans were quick to point out the hypocrisy — and ridiculousness of his defense:
“You are hanging out with a guy who called Black NFL players who kneeled against racism ‘son of bitches’ who should be fired. What is there to respect?”
“Your meeting with Trump, a racist who called for the lynching of the exonerated Central Park Five, is not the same as meeting with Obama.”
“*Does something extremely political* “listen let’s not get political about this””
“Buddy, you’re involving yourself with politics by playing golf with the head of politics himself You place yourself in a situation where you’re going to get criticized and this is your response?”
“Weird energy. We’re overlooking who individuals are & what they stand for just because they hold a specific position or title? & trying to clown people for holding you accountable for doing so? Man, that’s a tuff look 2-6.”
“The company you keep says a lot about you”
“I thought you were cool. You ‘respect the office’. So if a known KKK affiliate held the office, you would still visit and say you ‘respect the office?’ What a shame…go talk to @JalenHurts, he knows how to handle these things…”
“You do know he is defunding the African American Museum in Washington? He literally said it’s not American history! Keep dancing”
“‘respecting the office’ does not mean hanging out with trump in a non-official capacity lmao . . . cut the cap + be a man. just say that he’s your guy, but don’t try to both sides it”
“But trump doesn’t respect the office, sir.”
“You are indeed free to be with whoever you choose and he is the PRESIDENT. You should know as well that everything is political & your presence is political. Hope you discuss with him removal of artifacts from the African American museum, apology to the New York 5, calling NFL players names, challenging O’bama’s birth certificate, removal of EPA protections that will impact Black communities and more.”
One commenter even mentioned Penn State‘s current issues with the Trump Administration — as that’s where Saquon attended college:
“Making a case for having respect for the office, while hanging out with someone who has zero respect for the office, will always be a bad look and considered nasty work. You could have at least said no for the sake of Penn State, who is currently under attack by Trump.”
See the full post and replies (below):
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 Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump ! Now ya get out my…
— Saquon Barkley (@saquon) April 28, 2025
Now, this is a big difference in what even his own teammate is choosing! Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has straight up rejected the official trip to the White House with the rest of his team. NBC News‘ White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor posted on social media Monday:
“A White House official confirms to me that @Eagles quarterback @JalenHurts will not be visiting the White House when the Super Bowl champions come later this afternoon. The White House says Hurts and other players who can’t attend had “scheduling conflicts.”
A White House official confirms to me that @Eagles quarterback @JalenHurts will not be visiting the White House when the Super Bowl champions come later this afternoon. The White House says Hurts and other players who can’t attend had “scheduling conflicts.”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 28, 2025
This comes after the 26-year-old was questioned about attending just a few days ago, and gave an… unenthusiastic response. When Time asked if he was going to show up with the rest of the Eagles, he gave an awkward “ummm” before refusing to say anything else about the matter.
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know (below).
[Image via First We Feast/YouTube/MEGA/WENN]
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