Washington DC - Philadelphia Eagles Saquon Barkley fired back at critics of his recent outing with , where the two played golf together before flying back to the White House.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (r.) fired back at critics of his recent outing with President Donald Trump ahead of the team's White House visit. © MANDEL NGAN / AFP
Barkley took to on Monday to defend his decision to spend time with the president ahead of the NFL team's official visit to the White House.
"lol some people are really upset cause I played golf and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT," the 28-year-old athlete wrote.
"Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with [Barack] Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump!" he continued.
The White House is set to welcome the Eagles on Monday for a reception celebrating , but not every player has been enthusiastic about the event.
Last week, MVP and starting quarterback Jalen Hurts was about whether he would be heading to Washington, to which he said simply, "Um," before the reporter responded, "Got it."
The team has confirmed that while the White House's invitation has been formally accepted by the Eagles, it is not mandatory that all players attend.
The mixed reaction comes after the Eagles' 2018 Super Bowl celebration was canceled amid reports that only a small number of players had agreed to visit Trump, who was then serving his first term as president.
No formal reason for the cancellation was provided by the team, but Trump subsequently publicly called players who had been kneeling during the national anthem "disrespectful."
Kneeling became a by NFL stars during Trump's first term to call attention to systemic racism in the US, and following the president's intense criticism of the protests, many Eagles players – including most if not all of the Black team members – had decided not visit the White House that year as a result, per .
Ahead of Monday's visit, White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor that Jalen Hurts and an undisclosed number of additional players would not be in attendance due to "scheduling conflicts."
