Tiger Woods Deflects Questions on Trump: ‘We All Must Respect the Office’

Tiger Woods of the United States walks from the first tee during the third round of The Northern Trust on August 25, 2018 at the Ridgewood Championship Course in Ridgewood, New Jersey. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Tiger Woods said that everyone should “respect” the office of the president, in response to an off-topic question during a press conference at a golf tournament on Aug. 26.

After finishing the day’s round at the Northern Trust tournament in New Jersey, Woods was taking questions from the press about his performance. But one reporter asked him about his relationship with Donald Trump and whether it was “professional” or “personal.”

“Well, I’ve known Donald for a number of years,” Woods responded. “We’ve played golf together and we’ve had dinner together. I’ve known him pre-presidency and obviously during his presidency.”

The unidentified reporter didn’t stop there, asking Woods about what he thinks about Trump’s comments on the NFL national anthem protests.

“Well, he’s the president of the United States and you have to respect the office,” Woods continued. “No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike the personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.”

The same reporter then asked Woods if he had a comment about the state of race relations in the United States.

“No. I just finished 72 holes and [I’m] really hungry,” Woods said, as he moved on to more relevant questions.

The next day, Trump responded to Woods comments, calling out the mainstream media for trying to extract a provocative response from the golfer. Woods, one of the world’s most popular athletes and a former No. 1 golfer, has been trying to make a comeback from multiple back surgeries. As of Aug. 27, he was officially ranked 26th in the world.

“The Fake News Media worked hard to get Tiger Woods to say something that he didn’t want to say. Tiger wouldn’t play the game - he is very smart,” Trump wrote on Aug. 27. “More importantly, he is playing great golf again!”

It comes after a daily Rasmussen poll on Aug. 15 found the approval of Trump among black likely voters rose to 36 percent. That number is up from the 29 percent reported by Rasmussen two weeks ago. A year ago, that number stood at 19 percent. Woods himself is multiracial.