Democrat Presidential hopeful Julian Castro insists that if he were president, athletes would love coming to the White House again.
Castro, one of the many candidates who show at less than one percent in polls of Democrat voters, was asked his opinion by TMZ after Wednesday’s first 2020 Democrat debate.
Castro claimed that athletes don’t like going to the White House in this era of Trump, but if he became president, players would love visiting him.
“I’m very confident that whomever the next President — and I hope to be the next president — you’re gonna see a lot more sports teams eager to go to The White House unlike we’ve seen in the last couple of years,” Castro told TMZ.
The former Obama Secretary of Housing and Urban Development added that when he was young, pro athletes loved going to the White House to celebrate their championships.
“[The players] considered that a highlight of their year,” Castro said.
He also thinks that once he’s in the office it will be different: “I think it’s gonna be like that again.”
However, Castro’s assumptions are not quite on target. In truth, only a small percentage of athletes have refused to attend team visits during the Trump era. They have just issued their refusals very loudly.
In most cases, only three or four members of any given team have refused to visit the Trump White House. Further, refusing visits to the White House has a long pedigree, in any case. Athletes routinely refused to visit the White House during both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.