Retired Yankees baseball player Mariano Rivera endorsed former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in an interview on WABC Radio NY Friday.
Hall of Fame pitcher Mariano Rivera: "President Trump, he's my friend. I can't deny that. Before he was the president, he was my friend. Because of that, I'm going to vote for him." https://t.co/divqNm15NY
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) April 8, 2024
“I’m very afraid, Mariano, for New York and this world … I’ve got a 19-year-old daughter, she’s gonna turn 20 on Sunday, and a 15-year-old son, and I think we need President Trump to win or it could be very, very ugly. Do you agree with that?” WABC’s Sid Rosenberg asked the baseball legend.
“I agree with that,” Rivera said. “President Trump, he’s my friend. I can’t deny that. I will tell that to anyone. Before he was the president, he was my friend. Because of that, I’m going to vote for him.”
Trump posted an excerpt from the interview to his Truth Social account on Sunday.
Rivera was signed by the New York Yankees in 1990 and went on to play 19 seasons in Major League Baseball. He was the first player to be elected unanimously into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In addition to his baseball career, Riviera received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Sept. 16, 2019 for his baseball career and work through the Mariano Rivera Foundation, which helps provide education to children in need.
“Having been given the Freedom of Honor medal from Donald Trump was amazing. I mean it was an amazing moment. Receiving that medal was special,” Rivera said in the interview
Rivera has received backlash for his support of Trump in the past, with an infamous 2019 Daily Beast column accusing him of having “served at the pleasure of a racist president,” as well as criticizing him for his support of Israel.
Rivera defended himself and his president on Fox & Friends when asked about the article, once again citing his friendship with Trump.
“When it comes to Israel, as a Christian, if my Savior Jesus Christ, he’s a Jew, so how am I going to turn my back and say, ‘Oh, I won’t support Israel,'” Rivera said when asked about the article.
“He was a friend of mine before he became president,” Rivera also said on the show. “So, because he’s president I will turn my back on him? No. I respect him. I respect what he does and I believe he’s doing the best for the United States of America.”
