Arnold Palmer's daughter calls Donald Trump 'disrespectful' after comments about her father
Donald Trump's comments about the late Arnold Palmer during his rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, were viewed as "disrespectful" by the golf legend's daughter, Peg Palmer Wears.
Peg Palmer Wears, the daughter of late golf legend Arnold Palmer, responded to Donald Trump’s recent comments about her father, which she considered "disrespectful" and "inappropriate."
Trump campaigned in Palmer’s hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where the former president held a rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport Saturday.
During his speech, Trump claimed to have competed against Palmer on the golf course, though the seven-time major champion was well past his prime. But after talking about his time with Palmer on the golf course, Trump discussed the golf legend’s manhood and how other players would react to Palmer in the showers.
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"He was all man," Trump said about Palmer. "This man was so strong and tough, and I refused to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there; they said, ‘Oh my God, that’s unbelievable.' I had to say it.
"I had to tell you the shower part of it because it's true."
Wears said those comments from Trump were "unacceptable."
"Being at the airport, which is named for my dad, where he flew out of to go to work every day or every week, you know, to come there and talk about … hackneyed anecdotes from the locker room … seemed disrespectful and inappropriate to me," Wears told ABC News Monday.
"The people coming to these rallies deserve substance about plans Trump has as a candidate, if he could elucidate on some of the threats he’s made to people. I mean, these are important issues that should be discussed for people when they’re getting ready to vote, and using my dad to cover over the important things just seems unacceptable to me."
Wears added that Trump was "appropriating someone he admires to bolster his own image," adding, "people deserve better."
Wears said she will be voting in this year’s presidential election, though she did not disclose to ABC News who she plans to vote for.
While discussing his time on the golf course with Palmer, Trump said he felt good hitting his ball past "The King’s" during a match.
"I got to know him when he was 69 years old, and I played pretty much with him, a lot of him," Trump said. "And as he got older — you know, when you get older, you start to lose a thing called distance, and I'm a good golfer, not like that, but I'm a good golfer. And I felt so good because I was hitting it a little bit longer than Arnold, but he was, by this time, 75, 76, and I'd hit it four, five yards past him.
"I said ‘Arnold, let me ask you: Thirty years ago, 40 years ago, was I longer than you?’"
Trump also noted Palmer’s financial success during his life, calling him a "very rich man."
Trump made his way through western Pennsylvania over the weekend, beginning in Latrobe with his rally and heading to a local McDonald’s for a surprise "shift" in Feasterville-Trevose before attending the Pittsburgh Steelers-New York Jets "Sunday Night Football" game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh to end the weekend’s festivities.
Palmer was a four-time Masters champion, a two-time Open champion and he won the U.S. Open in 1960 during his illustrious golf career. His 62 PGA Tour wins rank fifth all-time.
Palmer died in Pittsburgh Sept. 25, 2016, at age 87.
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