Donald Trump endorses potential run by Nazi relics collector
A former Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox player, Curt Schilling has a record of controversial statements.
By ROSSELLA TERCATINHall of Fame pitcher Curt Schilling looks on during the first inning of the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field in 2018.(photo credit: JOE CAMPOREALE-USA TODAY SPORTS)
US President Donald Trump has endorsed a retired baseball player and collector of Nazi memorabilia. "Curt Schilling, a great pitcher and patriot, is considering a run for Congress in Arizona. Terrific!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. A former Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox player, Schilling retired from professional baseball in 2009. Since then, he has served as a baseball and political commentator in several outlets. A staunch conservative and Trump supporter, he has a record of controversial statements. In 2016, ESPN fired him for posting an anti-transgender meme on Facebook. The previous year, he had been suspended for comparing Muslims to the Nazis. He has also suggested that a 2018 mass shooting in Parkland Florida was a hoax, according to a report by Vanity Fair.
In 2015, Schilling published dozens of pictures of Nazi memorabilia in his Facebook profile. The Facebook album is still online.The images feature numerous uniforms and objects that appear to have belonged to Nazi leaders, including Hermann Göring, one of Hitler's closest officials. In the comment thread, Schilling boasted about having many more artifacts in his collection whose pictures he had not posted, especially weapons. "My SS Dagger with dress scabbard that might just be the creepiest thing ever," he further wrote. After the Boston Globe uncovered the collection in 2015, Schilling told the newspaper that his selection was "not a Nazi collection," but "a collection of World War II stuff." "It was a tragically horrible time in the world's history," Schilling said. "I have never done anything to offend anyone. I don't have a racist bone in my body. People that know me know that. I can't help what people get offended by. I can't help how people want to interpret things," he added. Schilling first said that he was considering running in a radio interview on Sunday, according to Arizona Central. After Trump expressed his support, the former baseball player told the newspaper that he had not made a decision yet. "Not ready to do any of that right now. If/When things solidify I will but right now it's something in the 'I'm considering it' stage," Schilling wrote in an email to the Arizona Central. "The state is not the state I grew up in. Making Arizona citizens of EVERY Race, religion and sexual orientation 2nd class citizens to illegal immigrants is about as anti-American as it gets," he added.
