Yesterday, the NCAA champion Baylor University women’s basketball team visited the White House to be honored by President Trump. Unlike their male counterparts from the University of Virginia, and various other sports championship teams, the “Lady Bears” were willing and, it seems, happy to accept an invitation from Trump.
Coach Kim Mulkey is no stranger to the White House. She took championship teams there during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies.
Mulkey wanted her players to have the same experience. She explained:
It’s not a political issue for me. It’s an honor to go to the White House. I want everyone to say they went to the White House. Not many people can say that.
Her team not only went to the White House, it also visited the Oval Office. The schedule called for Trump to make his remarks to the team in the State Dining Room, where the players were treated to fast food from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Chick-fil-A. But Trump graciously invited them to the Oval Office for his talk.
There, the redoubtable Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas delivered the line of the day. Trump told the players that he has had “strong, tough people start crying” when they enter the hallowed space. “Was that Hillary?” Gohmert interjected.
UPDATE: On Twitter, some are claiming that Trump disrespected the Baylor women by serving fast food. But the White House served fast food to the men’s championship football teams from Clemson and North Dakota State.
Dabo Sweeney, the Clemson coach, said his players loved the fast food. The Lady Bears may or may not have loved it, but there was nothing disrespectful about serving them the same food the male football players ate and, apparently, enjoyed.
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