No, not true. He hasn't actually done that yet. But there's still time. Given how astonishingly thin-skinned and hyper-attentive this president is, and given the media's propensity for turning molehills into mountains, there's still plenty of time for something terribly awkward and cringe-worthy to happen.
A brief look at the history. During last month's Golden Globe awards telecast, actress Meryl Streep took what was presumed to be an unkind swipe at newly elected President Trump. Although she didn't specifically mention his name, all those who witnessed her speech agreed that there was little doubt whom she was talking about.
Trump's knee-jerk response was Vintage Trump. Instead of saying something gentlemanly and classy, like "Because I've been so busy getting ready for the presidency, I wasn't able to watch the telecast, so I'm not quite sure what was said, but I've always considered Meryl one of our finest actresses," Trump did the opposite. He did what comes most naturally to him. He lashed out.
Trump instantly logged on to his Twitter account and referred to Meryl Streep as "....one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood." Unwilling to leave it be, he continued. He tweeted that Meryl was a "....Hillary flunky who lost big." If the man had a sense of humor, his deadpan reply when asked what he thought of Meryl Streep's speech would have been, "Who's Meryl Streep?" Ouch.
One could argue that even a high school Student Body President who had come under criticism from disgruntled classmates would have shown more composure than Trump showed when Meryl zinged him. Clearly, in addition to everything else that has been said about him, our president is a world-class grievance magnet bordering on pathological.
Which brings us to the New England Patriots.
Knowing how popular sporting events are with the public (i.e. voters), the White House long ago established the tradition of welcoming and congratulating winning sports teams, both college and pro. Showing the U.S. president rubbing elbows with a group of physically fit American "winners" is a public relations no-brainer.
Accordingly, the 2017 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots have been invited to meet with President Trump at the White House. If Trump had a sense of humor, when he greeted Tom Brady he would hand him a comically deflated football. Ha-ha. (And if Brady had a sense of humor, he would ask if it would be possible for him to shake hands with Steve Bannon.)
But here's the rub. So far, six Patriot team members (five African-Americans, one white player) have publicly stated that they won't be attending the ceremony. Basically, they will be boycotting the affair. There are already six confirmed non-attendees, and as this thing continues to build, there are likely be many more.
So the question becomes: How will Trump handle it if as many as twenty players (almost half the team) choose to boycott the event? While no one can predict exactly what Trump will do, one thing is certain: He will not handle it gracefully. Grace under fire is not part of his DNA.
Here are five things he might do. Take your pick.
1. He will refer to the black boycotters as "hip-hop flunkies."
2. He will refer to the white boycotters as "overrated losers."
3. Not wanting to be embarrassed, he will simply cancel the event.
4. He will go forward with it, but simply deny that any players were missing.
5. He will blame Putin.