Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner wasn’t the only professional athlete to comment on former President Donald Trump’s near-death experience on Saturday, but he was likely the only one who ended up confessing soon after that he’s never voted before.
Gardner’s admission came after he sparked an intense debate on X by sharing a picture of a bloodied Trump with the caption, “ladies & gentlemen.....President Donald Trump.”
NFL fans and others spoke up to either praise or criticize Gardner for his post. The tone of the responses depended, in large part, on how the person responding felt about the former president.
To Trump’s supporters, Gardner was a hero for appearing to share their appreciation for him. To Trump’s detractors, Gardner was a villain for affiliating with the “MAGA movement.”
The New York Jets cornerback acknowledged the tension in a follow-up post.
“Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, I love you. Most importantly, I love my life,” he said.
About 20 minutes after that, Gardner posted again on X to say that he’d like to know more about politics in order to understand why his original post made some people so angry.
“In all honesty, I never voted before and am unfamiliar with politics, but I do think it’s odd to judge people based on who they vote for. Maybe it’s not odd and I just don’t understand because I’m not familiar with it. Somebody fill me in,” he said.
On Sunday, Gardner added that people shouldn’t be so quick to judge each other based on who they vote for.
“I say this because it’s no such thing as perfect people which means there will never be a perfect President. It’ll always be things that people like about what a President does and things they dislike. So people could support a President based on ONE good thing that he/she will change and disregard the not so good things, so it’s not fair to judge someone based on who they vote for because that doesn’t mean they have the same EXACT morals/values as the President,” he wrote.
Unlike Gardner, most of the athletes who commented on Saturday’s shooting didn’t respond to the debates created by their original posts.
For example, Maxx Crosby, a defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders, didn’t engage with people who criticized his X post featuring a photo of Trump and him.
Others, like Patrick Beverley from the NBA and sports commentator Rich Eisen, simply said they were praying and left it at that.
Sports stars react to Trump shooting
Here are some other notable responses from the sports world to the Trump rally shooting.
“It’s yet another example of not only our political division, but also gun culture,” said NBA coach Steve Kerr, who is with Team USA preparing for the Olympics. “A 20-year-old with an AR-15 trying to shoot the former president? It’s hard to process everything and it’s scary to think about where this goes because of the issues that already exist in the country. So this is a terrible day.”
NBA star Steph Curry, who is out of the country with Kerr preparing for the Olympics, said, “You want positivity and hope — it sounds cheesy, but it’s real. ... That’s when our country’s at its best and (the shooting) just adds another blemish to what’s going on.”