Jacob Bogage of The Washington Post rapped President Donald Trump for dragging the NCAA football National Champion Louisiana State University Tigers into the impeachment debate Friday during their visit to the White House. He also accused the president of lying about trade agreements and harped about the Commander-in-Chief feeding fast food to Clemson's 2019 football champs during their White House visit last year.
LSU defeated Clemson 42-25 in Monday night's college football playoff championship game. President and Mrs. Trump attended the game and drew rousing cheers from fans in attendance, who shouted, "U-S-A" and "Four More Years!"
Bogage wrote: "President Trump thrust college football’s national champion into the partisan rancor over impeachment on Friday, joking to the Louisiana State University football team that while the United States has a 'great president' the House wants to 'impeach the son of a bitch.'”
President Trump's actual remarks:
“We’ll take pictures behind the Resolute Desk. It’s been there a long time. A lot of presidents, some good, some not so good. But you’ve got a good one now, even though they’re trying to impeach the son of a bitch. Can you believe that? Can you believe that?"
Addressing LSU's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow, the president said, “Got the greatest economy we’ve ever had, Joe. We got the greatest military. We rebuilt it. We took out those terrorists like your football team would have taken out those terrorists, right? But we’re doing good.”
Bogage noted the House of Representatives voted in December to impeach Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) transmitted the two articles of impeachment to the Senate Wednesday.
President Trump also touted the vibrant stock market, which reached an all-time high Friday. "He falsely claimed that the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal to replace the 1994 NAFTA accord, and the preliminary trade deal signed with China this week were 'the two largest deals in history,'” Bogage wrote.
The LSU people in the crowd did not share Bogage's criticism, as they enthusiastically applauded the president's report.
Friday marked the one-year anniversary since last year's champion Clemson Tigers visited the White House. The media echo chamber then chided Trump for feeding fast food to his guests, and Bogage could not resist repeating that narrative again. But Bogage wasn't sure if the president fed any food to LSU Friday.
President Trump also commended the Tigers for rallying around Offensive Coordinator Steven Ensminger, whose daughter-in-law recently died in a plane crash.
"This team showed the world what it means to look out for one another," President Trump said.
Burrow presented an LSU jersey to the president and said the White House visit was a moment the players would never forget: "It was a great season, but this was a great way to cap it off." Trump called him an "inspirational person."
