Donald Trump has called on MLB legend Roger Clemens to take legal action against baseball executives as he reiterated his support for Clemens’ induction into the Hall of Fame.
Clemens is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding pitchers in baseball history, boasting a brilliant 24-season career in the majors with teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
However, the 63-year-old was named in the 2007 Mitchell Report on steroids in baseball, which has somewhat tarnished his legacy.
Clemens has always denied the allegations and Trump recently took to social media to call for him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
On Sunday, Trump reinforced his previous statements and encouraged Clemens to file a lawsuit against the league in a new post on his social media platforms.
It read: ‘I hope that Major League Baseball is getting ready to put Roger Clemens in the Hall of Fame, a place where he has belonged for many years!
Donald Trump renewed his call for Roger Clemens to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
‘354 Wins, second in Total Strikeouts, Low Earned Run Average, participated in 6 World Series, won 7 Cy Young Awards (A Record, by 3!), and was often untouchable on the mound.’
‘Never used drugs, no evidence suggests he used drugs, and he has consistently denied using them. Honestly, I believe he has a substantial case against Baseball. If I were him, I’d sue.’
Trump also mentioned Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader, who was banned for life in 1989 for gambling on games but was subsequently removed from MLB’s ineligible list.
Rose is now eligible for Hall of Fame consideration despite being excluded during his lifetime.
Trump continued: ‘PUT ROGER CLEMENS IN THE HALL OF FAME, NOW — NOT LIKE YOU DID WITH PETE ROSE, WHEN YOU WAITED UNTIL HE WAS DEAD! That wasn’t the deal I made with the Commissioner, Rob Manfred, many months before he died.
‘The deal was that he was going to be put up, immediately, but they waited and waited and waited, and then, put him up because of ‘death.’
‘It shouldn’t have been because of death, it should have been because of TALENT! This is not going to happen with Roger Clemens.’
In March, Trump hit out at MLB, claiming the league needed to ‘get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect’ Rose posthumously to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The president took to Truth Social to plead Clemens’s case yet again in a fiery rant
The late Pete Rose became Hall of Fame eligible in May after a ruling from Rob Manfred
The late baseball legend was then made Hall of Fame eligible in May when the commissioner altered the policy, consequently lifting the lifetime ban handed down to the 17-time All-Star by then-commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in 1989.
And Manfred later confessed that the president’s outspoken support of Rose – despite the scandals that plagued his career – influenced his decision.
‘The President was one of a number of voices that was supportive of the idea that this was the right decision,’ he told reporters, via TMZ. ‘Obviously, I have respect for the office, and the advice that he gave, I paid attention to.’
However, the commissioner did also stress that Trump wasn’t the only voice he listened to when weighing up the decision.
Rose, a three-time World Series winner, passed away at the age of 83 in September 2024 without ever fulfilling his wish to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
While he is considered one of the greatest players in history, the legend was slapped with a lifetime ban for betting on the Cincinnati Reds as both a player and manager of the team in 1989.
Yet, Trump has long been an advocate for Rose, saying that he belongs in Cooperstown despite the all-time hit king’s issues with gambling, tax fraud, and alleged statutory rape.
Meanwhile, Clemens’ legacy in baseball is complicated to say the least.
During his career, Clemens established himself as one of the game’s premier pitchers
Considered by many to be among the greatest pitchers ever, he set a Major League record with the Boston Red Sox by striking out 20 batters in a game in 1986 and did it a decade later to boot. Along the way, the former Texas Longhorns star established himself as one of the game’s premier pitchers before moving on to Toronto and New York, winning a pair of World Series titles in the Bronx.
But Clemens will forever be linked to baseball’s steroid era.
He was named in the infamous Mitchell Report, which was a 20-month investigation into steroid use in baseball.
In the report, former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee stated he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000, and 2001. Former teammates Jose Canseco, Andy Pettitte and Jason Grimsley also claimed to know that Clemens used steroids as well.
Clemens was ultimately found not guilty of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he did not take steroids.
The controversy nonetheless tarnishes his reputation as Clemens has been passed repeatedly over for the Hall of Fame, having never received the 75 percent of votes required for induction over his ten years on the ballot. However, he could theoretically be inducted down the road by the Hall’s Eras Committees.
