Alex Cora, a Donald Trump critic, vows to use platform 'the right way' in Red Sox White House visit

Alex Cora plans to visit the White House despite being publicly critical of President Donald Trump. (Getty)
Alex Cora plans to visit the White House despite being publicly critical of President Donald Trump. (Getty)

The Boston Red Sox have accepted an invitation from the White House after winning the World Series.

Team president Sam Kennedy told reporters that the team is looking at dates for a visit.

Alex Cora, Trump critic, plans to join team at White House

Manager Alex Cora, who criticized President Donald Trump for downplaying the death toll in his native Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, plans to attend.

“I’m gonna use my platform the right way,” Cora told reporters. “I’m not gonna embarrass anybody. Actually, I’m gonna represent four million people from back home the right way when we go there.”

Cora called Trump’s lie on Twitter that six-to-18 Puerto Ricans died during Maria and “did not go up by muchdisrespectful in the wake of news that nearly 3,000 people perished.

Cora took the World Series trophy to Puerto Rico as part of the team’s celebration.

Past champions that declined to visit Trump’s White House

The decision also breaks from a trend of several champion sports teams that have declined or had their invitations to the White House rescinded because of disagreements with the policies of President Donald Trump.

The Golden State Warriors turned down a visit to Trump’s White House after winning the 2017 NBA championship and aren’t expected to visit or receive an invitation after their 2018 win.

“That was a rallying point, not just for our team, but for the entire NBA and the sports world in general,” star point guard Stephen Curry told CNN of the team’s decision. “There was so much support from all types of NBA players, from fans, kind of just backing us and understanding that, yes, going to the White House is definitely a huge honor — we’ve been before when President Obama was there — but if you’re not going to celebrate the collective and the majority of Americans who live in this country … then I didn’t want to go.”

Trump rescinded Eagles’ invitation

Trump rescinded his invitation to the Philadelphia Eagles after they won the Super Bowl in February after several players opted out of the scheduled visit.

Trump has been a vocal critic of NFL players kneeling to protest social injustice during the national anthem, calling players who do a “son of a bitch” and using his power as president to influence league policy on the issue.

“Over the last two years, I’ve been meeting with legislators, both Republican and Democrat, it don’t matter,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said at the time. “If you want to meet to talk about events in my community, changing the country, I’m all for that. But this isn’t one of those meetings, so I’ll opt out of the photo opportunity.”

The 2017 North Carolina men’s basketball team and 2017 South Carolina women’s basketball team also declined visits while the 2017 WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx did not receive an invitation.

Astros, other teams have visited

The 2017 Houston Astros did visit the White House. Puerto Rico natives Carlos Beltran and Carlos Correa did not attend. The visit came in the aftermath of the federal government’s mismanagement of Hurricane Maria.

The 2017 Clemson football team, 2018 Alabama football team and 2017 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots were among the teams that have visited the White House during Trump’s tenure.

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