Wayne Gretzky says he's a proud Canadian amidst backlash over ties to Donald Trump
'Trust me, I have no political power with the Prime Minister or the President,'
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Wayne Gretzky has no plans to step into the political arena.
The Great One told the Ben Mulroney Show on AM 640 in Toronto on Monday that he’s proud of his Canadian roots and won’t get caught up in the debate regarding his ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.
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Speaking on the show after spending time on Long Island, N.Y., to watch Alex Ovechkin break his record to become the greatest goal-scorer of all-time with No. 895, Gretzky says there is nothing he can do about the criticism.
Gretzky, 64, hadn’t made any public comments but is close friends with Trump. He was pictured at Mar-a-Lago in Florida at Trump’s election night party with wife Janet, their son, Trevor, daughter, Paulina, and her husband, Dustin Johnson, a member of the LIV Golf tour.
Janet and Wayne also were invited to Washington, D.C. for Trump’s inauguration.
“It’s OK,” Gretzky told the son of late Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. “I’ve got five American kids, seven American grandchildren, an American wife, a 103-year-old American mother-in-law.
“I always tell them you be as proud of the United States of America as I am to be a Canadian. That’s what your grandfather would have wanted. You know what, I don’t worry about those kinds of things because you can’t make everybody happy.”
Gretzky said if anybody thinks he can influence the policy decisions made by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney or Trump, they’re sadly mistaken.
“Trust me, I have no political power with the Prime Minister or the President,” Gretzky said. “That’s between those two guys and that’s why they hold elections. That’s what people get to do what they want to do and say what they want to say.
“Can you imagine me telling your dad what to do when he was the Prime Minister?” Gretzky asked, referencing Ben’s father. “Your dad would have laughed at me.”
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