On Friday, President Trump welcomed the LSU football team, which won the college national championship on Monday, to the White House, and in his most jocular mood, kept the audience laughing with one quip after another, finally concluding that there had been a number of presidents, both good and bad, in the Oval Office, and adding to great laughter, “But you got a good one now, even though they’re trying to impeach the son-of-a b***!”
Trump began:
To all of the incredible coaches and players, this team, your head coach, I watched him on television; I said, “Man, that guy’s — he’s all, he’s all man; he’s a big strong-looking guy. I didn’t know if he had laryngitis or was that his real voice. (laughter) It’s true. I think it was a combination of both. It was tough to start with and then he had a little laryngitis. But, man, whatever the hell it was, Ed Orgeron, and Ed, it worked; it really worked. You did a job that few people will ever be able to do again. The team is said to be one of the greatest teams, maybe the greatest team in the history of college football. (applause, cheers) And that’s pretty amazing.
Trump quipped, “As well as interim president of LSU, Thomas Galligan. You’ve done a good job. Interim? I think we’ve gotta make him permanent.”
Trump continued poignantly, “Your football program has inspired countless fans across the country, and it’s not just for what you’ve done on the football field, which is true. In the face of a heartbreaking tragedy you rallied together behind offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger.”
On Dec. 28, on the way to the Peach Bowl, Ensminger’s daughter-in-law, Carley McCord, a Louisiana sports reporter, was one of five passengers killed in a plane crash.
An emotional moment between Steve Ensminger and his son 🙏 pic.twitter.com/q9m1WlhWtV
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 14, 2020
After he called Insinger up, Trump continued, “A tragedy, your whole story, and yet so incredible the way you handled it. And the coach said you never wavered … very inspirational, Steve.”
After joking that Orgeron was hired because LSU had considered someone younger and nowadays people can sue organizations for preferring someone younger, Trump cited the enormous difficulty of LSU’s schedule, in which they defeated seven of the top ten teams and four of the top five.
Trump delineated highlights of the Tigers’ season, then turned to receiver Justin Jefferson, who set records this season, and quipped, “He’s going to be so rich. You’re looking at money.”
Trump referenced star quarterback Joe Burrow, who won the Heisman Trophy by the largest margin in the trophy’s history, and his speech raising half a million for the Athens County Food pantry, calling him an “inspirational person.” Later, after retelling the story of the Tigers’ victory over Clemson, Trump turned again to Burrow, asking if he had had any doubt about beating Clemson in the national championship game. Burrow answered, “No,” prompting Trump to sigh, “Oh, he’s going to be so rich,” eliciting gales of laughter from the crowd.
Trump concluded, “Coach, if you’d like, we can take whoever wants to come to the Oval Office; we’ll take pictures behind the Resolute Desk; it’s been there a long time; a lot of president, some good, some not so good. But you got a good one now, (laughter) even though they’re trying to impeach the son-of-a b***. (laughter) Can you believe it? We got the greatest economy we’ve ever had; we got the greatest military; we rebuilt it; we took out those terrorists like your football team would have taken out those terrorists.”
Video below: