President Donald Trump attempted to dispel brewing concerns over his health by posting a photo with a football coach who fell from grace over leaked emails containing racist, sexist, and homophobic language.
Trump touted his golf game with former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
“Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!” the president wrote, attaching a photo of himself fist-bumping with the once-venerated coach, who was wearing a Trump hat.
It is unclear whether the photo was taken on Sunday. Eagle-eyed social media users were quick to point out that Gruden was wearing the same outfit in an Instagram post dated Aug. 23—a day that Trump also spent at the golf course—fueling speculation that the photo was eight days old. Others mused that the image was AI-generated.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump was first seen back at his golf course in Virginia on Saturday, ending heated speculation that he had passed away after an unusual days-long disappearance from the public eye last week that social media users coupled with his swollen ankles, bruised hands, difficulty walking, and mental gaffes.
Though Gruden led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl championship in 2003, the former NFL coach and sports broadcaster dramatically resigned as head coach of the Raiders in October 2021 after bombshell reports by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times revealed his use of racist, sexist, and homophobic language in emails.
The saga started when the NFL combed through more than 650,000 emails as part of a workplace misconduct investigation ordered by Commissioner Roger Goodell. In an email describing then-NFL Players Association Chief DeMaurice Smith, Gruden wrote: “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin [sic] tires,” evoking racist imagery about Black people.
In other emails reviewed by The New York Times, Gruden made transphobic jokes, used homophobic slurs, and passed around photos of half-naked women. He also wrote, “Nice job, Roger,” in response to a sexist meme about a female referee.
Gruden departed from the Raiders shortly after the exposés, writing, “I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.” But he later sued the league, accusing it of leaking the emails to push him out.
Earlier this month, Gruden told ESPN that he was “looking forward to having the truth come out.”
“I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” he said.
