'How about Roger Clemens': Trump takes unexpected turn in posting spree

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump broke from a mid-day stream of self-promotional posts Wednesday, August 26, to defend Roger Clemens and criticize those who kept the former pitcher out of Cooperstown.

Clemens spent 25 years as a top Major League Baseball pitcher, but allegations of steroid use later clouded his career and Hall of Fame candidacy.

Trump made the intervention at 12.33 pm on Truth Social after an hour of posts featuring family photos, administration accomplishments and other material.

Trump takes aim at Roger Clemens' Hall of Fame critics

Trump directly challenged Clemens' exclusion from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, asking, “How about Roger Clemens not being in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.”

He then offered his own explanation for why Clemens remained outside the Hall, writing that it was “all because a bunch of jealous people with far less Talent, voted that he shouldn’t be there.”

The post marked a change from the material Trump had been sharing throughout the afternoon.

He began at 11.38 am by attacking Democrats over the voting restriction bill he calls the “Save America Act,” accusing them of opposing it because they want to “cheat” in elections and allow non-citizens to vote.

Roger Clemens' career became a Hall of Fame dispute

Clemens was a two-time World Series champion and spent a quarter-century as one of Major League Baseball's top pitchers.

His later years in baseball were tarnished by allegations that steroids fueled his longevity and dominance. 

Clemens denied using such substances during testimony before Congress.

He was later tried on charges that he had perjured himself on Capitol Hill, but he was not convicted.

Those details form the backdrop to Trump's intervention. The president did not address the steroid allegations in his post, instead focusing his criticism on the people who voted against Clemens' Hall of Fame candidacy.

Trump spent the afternoon on personal material

The Clemens post came after Trump had spent much of the afternoon reposting material focused on himself, his administration and his past.

He shared old family photographs, including images of his late parents, as well as photos of himself in an ornate ceremonial military uniform from his high school years at the now-defunct New York Military Academy.

Trump has previously shared content featuring those outfits, which supporters often post to imply he has a history of military service.

Only one member of his family, his late brother Fred Trump Jr, served in the American armed forces.

Trump later reposted a 1989 letter from then-New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner praising him for a recent television appearance and encouraging him to run for president.

About half an hour into the posting spree, Trump began reposting lists of his administration's accomplishments, mostly as screenshots from X, followed by news articles from right-wing outlets highlighting recent administration actions.

The Clemens post was the first item Trump authored himself during the sequence after it had been underway for roughly an hour.