Sometimes you want them, such as when Michael Jordan hosted a celebrity fundraiser for President Obama in 2012 which netted the Prez a million dollars. Sometimes you don’t want them, like yesterday when Charles Barkley said he would vote for John Kasich. Barkley, a liberal Democrat, noted he’d prefer ultra-lefties Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro. But, barring their entrance, Kasich looks like his guy.
Also, weirdly, sometimes you think you have an athlete endorsement when you really don’t. This is the category current Republican front-runner Donald Trump falls into. On Wednesday Trump addressed the issue of women in combat, and made an analogy to Ronda Rousey that he probably now wishes he hadn’t.
“Some of them are really, really good,” Trump said to CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “I’ll tell you what, I know some women that are just — Ronda Rousey is an example, who likes me. I’d take her on my side as a fighter.”
Rousey is of course a famous female UFC fighter and current Bantamweight champion. Why might Trump regret referring to Rousey as someone who “likes me?”
He might because of an interview Rousey gave to CNN, weeks ago. After the interviewer described Donald Trump’s campaign as having a “very MMA kind of feel to it,” Rousey made it clear she didn’t think much of the billionaire as presidential material.
“Um, I mean, I wouldn’t vote for him,” Rousey dispassionately told her CNN interlocutor. “I just really wouldn’t trust the guy with running my country, that’s all. I’m not really going to get into the specifics of it. I don’t want a reality-TV star to be running my country.”
Rousey might like Trump’s old reality shows. Or staying in his hotels. But as far as liking him, it appears “The Donald” was greatly misinformed.
