Jack Nicklaus said he already voted for President Trump in the 2020 election, and he encouraged others to do so as well.
The golf legend announced his endorsement of the president in a statement posted to Twitter Wednesday. In the statement, Nicklaus encouraged people to look past the way the president speaks and focus instead on his actions.
“You might not like the way our President says or tweets some things – and trust me, I have told him that! – but I have learned to look past that and focus on what he’s tried to accomplish,” Nicklaus said. “This is not a personality contest; it’s about patriotism, policies and the people they impact.”
Nicklaus opened his statement by saying that he has been blessed to know several presidents from both sides of the political aisle, and that all were good people who loved their country. He also said that he’s gotten to know Trump better over the past three and a half years, but he’s been disappointed to see what the president has “had to put up with” during that time. Even still, in Trump, “I have seen a resolve and determination to do the right thing for our country. He has delivered on his promises. He’s worked for the average person,” Nicklaus said.
The men’s relationship predates Trump’s election in 2016; Nicklaus designed the 7,531-yard, 18-hole golf course at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida.
Nicklaus, who is from Ohio, said that he came from a Midwestern middle-class family, and that both of his grandfathers worked on the railroads. Those grandfathers, he said, gave him opportunity and taught him to pursue his own dreams. “I believe that Donald Trump’s policies will bring the American Dream to many families across the nation who are still trying to achieve it,” he said.
Nicklaus also said that the way the president talks is not important to him; it’s the actions that matter.
Nicklaus appealed to those who have not yet made up their minds: “If we want to continue to have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream, and not evolve into a socialist America and have the government run your life, then I strongly recommend you consider Donald J. Trump for another 4 years.”
President Trump later sent a tweet thanking Nicklaus for his support, calling it “a Great Honor.”
Nicklaus won the Masters Tournament six times during his career; the first victory was in 1963 and the last in 1986. He also won five PGA championships, 4 U.S. Opens and 3 British Opens, for a total of 18 victories in The Majors.
His company Nicklaus Design has completed more than 425 golf courses.
Nicklaus, 80, contracted the coronavirus early in the pandemic, but recovered in March.
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