Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Canadians should give Wayne Gretzky a break.
The hockey legend has come under fire for supporting U.S. President Donald Trump by attending his inauguration in January and visiting him several times in recent months at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Gretzky also attended an election victory party for Trump last November and was seen sporting a Make America Great Again hat.
While outlining Ontario’s response to Trump’s hefty tariffs on Canadian goods, Ford took a moment to defend Gretzky as a patriot who loves his homeland.
Ford says he recently spoke to Gretzky, who was “all choked up.”
Janet Gretzky has also defended her husband, saying the “mean” comments over his support for Trump have broken his heart.
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Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods Tuesday and a 10 percent levy on energy, sparking a trade war as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded with Canada’s retaliatory tariffs.
Trump’s tariff threats have set off a wave of patriotism across Canada that includes fans booing the U.S. national anthem at sporting events such as hockey games.
The controversy followed Gretzky in his role as Team Canada’s honorary captain at the Four Nations Face-Off in February.
“He is a patriot, he loves Canada,” Ford said Tuesday at a news conference where he announced a series of retaliatory measures against the U.S.
“He never gave up his Canadian passport. So folks, give the guy a break, just give him a break. He loves Canada. He loves it like no tomorrow.”
Bobby Orr, another hockey great and Trump supporter, also defended Gretzky recently.
“Listen, we all have our personal beliefs as they pertain to things such as religion and politics,” Orr wrote in a piece in the Toronto Sun.
“Wayne respects your right to such beliefs—why can’t you respect his?”
And Trump himself tried to assuage Canadians’ anger toward Gretzky, who has not publicly commented on the controversy.
“Wayne and Janet, his wonderful wife, love Canada, and they should only support Canada, and whatever else makes the Canadian People, and Governor Justin Trudeau, happy,” Trump wrote on social media last week.
“He’s the Greatest Canadian of them all, and I am therefore making him a ‘free agent,’ because I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him. He supports Canada the way it is, as he should, even though it’s not nearly as good as it could be as part of the Greatest and Most Powerful Country in the World, the Good Ole’ U.S.A.!”
