If David Ortiz were still on the Red Sox, he would side with manager Alex Cora. He wouldn’t be at the White House today to meet President Trump, either.
“Alex is in a tough spot right now, going there and acting like nothing is happening,” the former slugger told WEEI of Cora, the Puerto Rico native who opted not to attend the celebration Thursday because of the government’s handling of his hurricane-ravaged homeland, while certain players and other members of the organization will be there. “It’s like you are going to shake hands with the enemy. Think about it, all the stuff that has been going on since he took office. People are angry. People are mad. He has divided people, that’s how it feels like.”
Ortiz visited the White House three times after winning a World Series in 2004, 2007 and 2013. He took a selfie with President Obama. He met with President George W. Bush. But he wouldn’t do the same with Trump. As an immigrant, it would be against everything he believes in. He became an American citizen in 2008 after growing up in the Dominican Republic.
“I don’t think it’s the political side of it. I think it’s more of what is going on,” Ortiz said. “I’m an immigrant. When it comes down to the political side of it I don’t know much about politics and things like that. But when it comes down the way immigrants have been treated it’s something that goes a long way. You don’t want to go and shake hands with a guy who is treating immigrants like s–t because I’m an immigrant.”
Cora feels the same way about how Trump and the White House have treated Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
“For me, obviously, just being around the island and knowing what is going on, how people are, it doesn’t feel right,” Cora said Thursday, also on WEEI. “The government has helped, but we still have a long way to go. I put it in capital letters: This is our reality. I am the guy that has lived it. I am the guy down there in the offseason and I understand how it is. I just don’t feel right going and celebrating while people are struggling back home.”