EXCLUSIVE: Johnny Damon still remembers when he first met Donald Trump. But just as much, Damon remembers how certain people have treated him for being friends with Trump.
"Unfortunately, whenever you say you're friends with Donald Trump, we have a lot of people who just can not understand that," Damon told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
The former MLB star met Trump during his time with the New York Yankees, and met him directly through the organization. After Damon left the Boston Red Sox for the Yankees in December 2005, Trump, who was then a New York City businessman and reality TV star, invited the baseball star to play golf in Mar-a-Lago. They were joined by former New York Mets captain David Wright on the green.
And when Trump found out that Damon was coming to New York to play for the Yankees, a team Trump had been well-connected to over the years, he made a pitch to Damon to move into one of his buildings. But Damon had already moved into a place in the Bloomberg Building.
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Ten years later, Trump may have gotten his revenge on Damon for not buying a place in his building. In 2015, Damon appeared in the seventh season of "Celebrity Apprentice," where Trump fired Damon in the sixth episode for writing a bad product jingle.
But none of that stopped the two from becoming close friends. For Damon, that friendship blossomed into staunch political support. It was a level of support that Damon had to be prepared to defend himself over.
"We've just been really good friends, and I'm glad that he's back in office and I'm glad we have somebody who's going to be out there, somebody who's going to answer questions, somebody who's going to do the work to make America great again," Damon said.
"Unfortunately, this last administration, we can't see anything positive that they've done, and hopefully, Donald Trump doesn't get any backlash for anything he's doing because he's already done more than what President Biden has done in his four years and Trump's not even in office right now. So I'm very, very happy my friend is back in office."
Damon knows about the backlash to Trump because he has been on the receiving end of it too.
Damon famously endorsed Trump in 2016, and even spoke at one of his rallies in Orlando that November, igniting backlash from left-leaning baseball fans on social media at the time.
"I disowned him when he sold his soul to the devil (Go Sox). Is there a way to double-disown him?" one disgruntled Boston Red Sox fan wrote on X (then known as Twitter) in a 2016 response to footage of Damon at the rally.
Another user insulted Damon's intelligence, writing, "Stupid is as stupid does. No one said he was smart," in response to the 2016 footage.
But after Trump won in 2016, Damon's loyalty amid the backlash paid off with a chance to launch a career in politics.
In December 2020, Trump appointed Damon to serve on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Damon joined fellow Yankees World Series champion Mariano Rivera, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, UFC fighter Colby Covington and NFL Hall of Famer Troy Vincent.
The appointment inspired Damon to consider a future in politics, but that ended after a run-in with police.
In February 2021, Damon was arrested in Florida for a DUI. Leaked bodycam footage of his arrest showed a drunk Damon claiming that he was being targeted for supporting Trump. It came just a month after Jan. 6.
"Hey, bro, I'm a good f---ing guy. I know people are trying to target me because I'm a Trump supporter," Damon told a police officer in the video. The officer said Damon's support for Trump had nothing to do with the arrest, to which Damon responded, "Yeah... it does."
Damon, who has previously had to deal with backlash for supporting Trump, told Fox News Digital that he had three beers before he got in the car, and his mind was on politics the whole night.
"I was getting ready to run for politics, and thinking about it seriously, and then I get pulled over," Damon said, adding that he disagreed with what the police officer's breathalyzer test said about his blood alcohol level.
"Unfortunately, people want to go after great citizens, and at the end of the day I'm going to continue to be who I am."
Police reported that Damon had a blood-alcohol content of 0.30% – more than triple the legal limit in Florida. He was also charged with resisting arrest without violence. His wife, Michelle Mangan-Damon, was charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Damon acknowledges that he made a "stupid" decision driving that night after drinking. But he believes at this point in his life he has overcome it by doing charity work and is now committed to raising his kids.
Still, Damon's support and fondness for Trump isn't going anywhere, no matter what anyone's response to it is.
"I'm going to continue to be friends with him," Damon said. "And I support my friends through the thick and thin, the good and the bad, so that's who I am and that's who I'm going to continue to be."
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