A Fox News host opted to ignore the cheating accusations swirling around President Trump’s golf game and gave a glowing on-air appraisal of his skills instead.
Trey Gowdy announced on his show, Sunday Night in America, that he shared a course with the 79-year-old this weekend. “I played yesterday with President Trump, he hit almost every fairway with his beautiful little three-yard bullet fade, it would go out there and just fade about three yards,” the host said, bristling with wide-eyed wonder.
But his ode to Trump’s prowess on the course was not done. “He has me by 20 years but he can still crank the ball out there pretty far,” he added.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for a beautiful day yesterday on a gorgeous golf course with great companionship.”
Also in the group of golfing buddies was CIA Director John Ratcliffe and longtime South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.
A post shared by Michael Solakiewicz (@realmichaelsolakiewicz)
Gowdy added that playing with Ratcliffe was “kind of a bucket list thing for me.”
“I also took $20 from Lindsey Graham, which is his annual clothing budget,” he quipped.
His comments come amid a storm of cheating allegations against the president, who added two more titles to his trophy cabinet last weekend.
On Thursday, Trump posted a photo on his Truth Social account holding two trophies, writing, “Winning the Senior Club Championship, and the Super Senior Club Championship, last weekend at Bedminster.”
“But my heart wasn’t into it, my heart is only for the U.S.A.!” he humbly added. The self-congratulatory message comes after footage emerged last Sunday of what appeared to be the president receiving assistance from a caddy during the Senior Club Championship.
The video, which was posted on social media, shows Trump’s ball being dropped on a green before the president picked it up. “Our president is a f—ing golf cheat,” golf writer Rick Reilly raged in response.
This is an allegation Trump has faced many times, and quite regularly of late. Last month, footage of Trump playing golf in Scotland, where a ball was also dropped by a caddy, raised questions about his skill on the course.
After that initial furor, the Daily Beast spoke to golf pros to get the lowdown on how good Trump actually is. They generally agreed with Gowdy’s assertion that the 6’3” 236-pound president can “crank the ball out there.”
“He can clearly step up to a ball and strike it,” PGA coach Craig Normansell said, caveating his comments with concerns about the more deft side of the game. “But when it comes to the short game, he looks like he’s going to be found out sooner or later.”
“It certainly doesn’t look like the level of someone who’s won 18 club championships,” Normanshell added.
Trump last month claimed that he had already won five championships this year at Bedminster, his private golf club in New Jersey. Last week, he boasted of having won 36 in total.
“Number of ‘championships’ he said he had last time: 24. Number he says he suddenly has now: 36. Number that his twisted ego just skipped: 11. Number of actual ‘championships’ he’s won: 0 #CommanderInCheat,” Reilly responded on X.
Asked for comment on allegations about the president cheating, Steven Cheung, Trump’s White House communications director, attacked Reilly, the author of Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.
“Rick Reilly is a washed up, pathetic loser who has beclowned himself with lies and cheating throughout his career, which is why nobody takes him seriously,” Cheung said.
“In fact, he suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his golf ball sized brain and can’t stand the countless championships President Trump has won.”
The post Fox News Host Gushes About 79-Year-Old Trump’s Golf Game After ‘Cheat’ Allegations appeared first on The Daily Beast.
