Trump, a well-known golf lover, and his properties have played host to multiple golf events. He’s also created controversy for the PGA before. In 2015, then-candidate Trump and the PGA mutually agreed to not hold the Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. The decision to pull the tournament came after Trump made comments about Mexicans being rapists and criminals.
In 2015, the PGA issued a joint statement with the LPGA, PGA Tour and USGA, saying that they don’t usually comment on presidential politics. However, the statement, according to the Huffington Post, added that Trump’s comments were “inconsistent” with their strong commitment to an “inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf.”
In 2022, the 104th PGA Championship is scheduled to be held at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. After Trump’s most recent Twitter controversy, some called for the PGA to change tournament locations.
The PGA told The Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold that the organization is “fully committed” to diversity and inclusion. However, the statement added it’s not a political organization and “simply don’t weigh in on statements made in the political arena.”
Ryan Ballengee, owner of Golf News Net, posted on Twitter that the organization should either defend the arrangement to host the tournament at Trump’s course or denounce it but shouldn’t “waffle it.”
“The PGA apparently wants us to think hosting a championship at a course bearing the president’s name is an apolitical decision,” The Washington Post national sports reporter Adam Kilgore posted on Twitter.
Jemele Hill, a staff writer at The Atlantic, re-posted Fahrenthold’s tweet and commented that an organization can’t be committed to diversity and inclusion, as the statement claimed, if it’s “holding a major tournament on a racist’s golf course.” Max Burns, a Democratic strategist, expressed a similar sentiment in that he claimed the PGA was committed to diversity and inclusion “as long as they don’t have to change anything.”
Evan Shapiro, president of comedy brand National Lampoon, called the statement a “bad hot take” and predicted the organization would cancel, driving Trump “mad.”
While Trump’s tweets were widely criticized for their racist subtext, several Republicans came to the president’s defense. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday that Trump’s comments weren’t racist and the situation was “about politics.” He added that he would vote against a House resolution denouncing Trump’s tweets.
Trump also defended himself, posting on Twitter on Tuesday that he doesn’t “have a racist bone” in his body and called the resolution a “Democrat con game.”
Representatives Tom Malinowski and Jamie Raskin sponsored the resolution and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the House cannot “allow the president’s characterization of immigrants to our country to stand.”
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that it was “interesting” that certain Democrat congresswoman “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept in the world” tell people in the United States how the government should be run.
“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done,” Trump posted on Twitter. “These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
