As as lifelong Boston Bruins fan, who firmly believes that Bobby Orr was the greatest hockey player of all time, it’s no surprise that I have been inundated with queries about my reaction to Bobby Orr taking out a full-page ad in a New England newspaper endorsing Donald Trump.
Orr’s endorsement is almost identical to a similar endorsement by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, which indicates that both endorsements were likely pre-packaged by the Trump team, but, so what?
They both signed off on it.
Both superstars talked about their admiration of Trump’s character; Orr said Trump’s the kind of guy he’d want as a teammate.
Really?
Is it Trump’s misogynist and degrading attitude toward women, or his racist attacks against Blacks and Latinos and Muslims that you find appealing?
Is it how he lied to the American public about the pandemic, lies that probably cost tens of thousands of lives?
People like Orr and Nicklaus, who fawn over Trump, are all in that top three per cent who benefit from Trump’s tax cuts for the rich.
They clearly have no concept of how devastating the Trump administration has been to struggling American families.
Do these endorsements of Trump diminish my respect for these sports icons?
The record shows that both are the greatest of all time in their sport and that cannot be denied, but their endorsement of a man who demeans women and minorities, admires dictators and lies to people who put their trust in him, diminishes and indelibly stains the character of both men and knocks them off the pedestal that many admirers, including me, had placed them on.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.