There’s a long line of sports superstars who have taken flak for playing golf with and supporting Donald Trump — from Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods (who’s now dating a former Trump in-law) to Brett Favre to Saquon Barkley. Many sports fans believe these celebrities have tarnished their images by not taking a stand for Black and brown people, Americans and immigrants, women, the LGBTQ+ community — all of those that Trump has insulted, marginalized or attacked. Come to think of it, there’s probably only one group Trump hasn’t targeted — the rich. And these guys certainly belong to that club. Jets star cornerback Sauce Gardner — relatively new to golf — defended Barkley with a tongue-in-cheek tweet on Twitter/X on Monday: “despite what everybody saying about saquon, the majority of people on this app (including me), can’t say they’ve golfed with the President of the US *deleting soon*,” Gardner wrote, with three laughing emojis. (Attention, President Trump: Somebody is angling for an invitation.) Barkley fired at his critics with his own tweet on Monday. ““[S]ome people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” he wrote. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump ! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day (crying laughing emoji).” According to reports,several players didn’t show up: Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, defensive linemen Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Jalyx Hunt, linebackers Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean. Former Eagles defensive ends Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat, cornerback Darius Slay and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson also did not attend the event. The White House released a statement on Monday afternoon that said Hurts and other players couldn’t attend because of “scheduling conflicts.” Barkley, who attended the Eagles’ championship visit to the White House on Monday, also was announced as part of a religious event — “Life Surge Champions of Faith” — being held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on May 31. It is headlined by many of Trump’s inner circle. Barkley joins former Eagles Hall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins and retired defensive end Brandon Graham, and current punt returner Cooper DeJean and head coach Nick Sirianni. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.