PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley is responding to backlash after he hung out with President Donald Trump this weekend.
This, as the team heads to Washington on Monday for their White House visit.
While there is growing uncertainty about which players will actually show up, one big star is already there.
Barkley spent the day golfing with President Trump at Trump National in Bedminster on Sunday, and the pair flew from New Jersey to D.C. afterward.
Saquon Barkley spent the day golfing with President Trump at Trump National in Bedminster on Sunday, and the pair flew from New Jersey to D.C. afterwards.
“What a nice guy he is. I wanted to race him but I decided not to do it,” the president joked with reporters at Morristown Municipal Airport.
Barkley posted to social media on Monday, defending his time with the president, noting that “some people are really upset.”
“Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand,” he said in the post, adding that he has also played golf with Obama “not too long ago.”
“Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day,” he said.
The Birds did not visit the White House after their first Super Bowl win in 2018. As to why, there were different reasons swirling, including that the White House canceled after learning only a small portion of the team would be attending. This was also during a time when the president had been critical of players protesting during the national anthem, including Eagles’ Malcolm Jenkins.
The White House blamed the Eagles for the cancellation and, instead, held a celebration of America.
When asked earlier this month, owner Jeffrey Lurie said the team would attend.
“When you grow up and you hear about the championship team got to go to the White House, that’s what this is. We didn’t have that opportunity and now we do, and I think we are all looking forward to it,” Lurie said.
But Lurie also added that the White House visit was optional, and there are questions about who may or may not go.
Jalen Hurts didn’t give a particularly clear answer last week.
Super Bowl LIX MVP Hurts didn’t answer when asked whether he’ll be at the White House while he was on the red carpet for the 2025 TIME 100 gala in New York City on Thursday, saying “Um” and looking around before the interviewer thanked him for his time.
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