President Donald Trump continued his blistering call for Roger Clemens to be selected for Hall of Fame induction, rebuking the "Obama DOJ" for what he called a "witch hunt," and urging Clemens to sue Major League Baseball if he is frozen out of the honor.
"It was the Obama DOJ (of course!) that viciously went after the great Roger Clemens," Trump wrote Sunday afternoon on Truth Social.
"ROGER WAS FULLY ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!!! President DJT."
Trump's social media posts this weekend urged support for Clemens as the hall was scheduled to announce new inductees Sunday, chosen by its Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee.
"Roger Clemens, who won 354 games, went through his own Witch Hunt," Trump also wrote on Truth Social.
"HE WAS ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!!! If he doesn't get into the Hall of Fame, he should sue the hell out of Major League Baseball! President DJT."
Trump began the campaign with a post Saturday saying the former Major League Baseball pitcher, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner whose legacy has been tainted by accusations of using performance-enhancing drugs, should be permitted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee considers retired players who are no longer eligible for election by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), which nominates recently retired players.
Clemens is among eight nominees on the ballot for the committee. Trump on Saturday dismissed accusations of Clemens' performance-enhancing drug use as "erroneous allegations."
"The only reason he is not (in the Hall of Fame) is because of rumors and innuendo, which were not proven," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social.
Clemens was acquitted in 2012 of federal charges that he had lied to Congress during a 2008 investigation when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
Others under consideration for the contemporary era committee include Barry Bonds, another former baseball star accused of using performance-enhancing drugs. Like Clemens, Bonds ultimately was cleared of criminal charges related to a steroid investigation.
Clemens and Bonds were named in the 2007 Mitchell Report, which investigated illegal drug use in baseball. Clemens has maintained that he did not use the drugs. Bonds has said he never knowingly took banned substances.
In 2022, his last year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot, Clemens received just 65.2% of the vote, falling short of the required 75% threshold.
The former star pitcher is not the first baseball figure whom Trump has touted as a Hall of Famer despite scandal. Trump earlier this year called for the induction of career hits leader Pete Rose, whose gambling-related ban from baseball kept him out of the hall for decades. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred lifted Rose's ban after a meeting with Trump.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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