Donald Trump made an embarrassing gaffe on Monday when he failed to recognize Indiana coach Curt Cignetti while hosting the national champions at the White House.
Cignetti is one of the highest-paid coaches in college football and the mastermind behind the Hoosiers’ first national championship win.
But in an excruciating moment, Trump appeared unaware who Cignetti was. During his speech, the president was detailing Indiana’s remarkable rise under the head coach when he said: ‘Curt… who’s Curt? Curt Cignetti. Where is Curt Cignetti?’
The Indiana coach was standing next to Trump as the president looked round at the players gathered behind him. ‘Right here,’ Cignetti eventually said.
When Trump finally noticed Cignetti, he laughed and put his arm around the Hoosiers coach, who saluted the crowd. ‘Curt Cignetti has turned out to be – I believe – the coach of the last decade,’ the president continued.
‘He’s a very special coach – I just got to know him a little bit backstage, and he’s a winner.’
Donald Trump made a gaffe on Monday when he failed to recognize Indiana coach Curt Cignetti
Indiana players and staff visited the White House to celebrate their national championship win
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza skipped the visit after being drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders
Cignetti brought many of his national champions to Washington DC for the reception with Trump and other top officials.
But quarterback Fernando Mendoza skipped the visit after being drafted first overall by the Las Vegas Raiders. And Trump made another blunder when he said Mendoza was too busy with ‘spring training.’
It is baseball players, rather than football stars, who take part in spring training and the Raiders did not have any official workouts scheduled on Monday.
‘He was so nice,’ Trump said before addressing his Vice President Vance. ‘JD, he’s a big fan of ours. You wouldn’t believe it because he didn’t show up. I’m not happy, but that’s okay.’
Trump continued: ‘If he was not here for other reasons, like he didn’t like Trump or he didn’t want to come, I wouldn’t even mention him… but he’s a great guy, actually, and he is actually a big fan of what we’re doing for our country.’
According to reports, none of Indiana’s national champions who have now joined the NFL visited the White House. Mendoza and coach Cignetti led Indiana to an unbeaten 16-0 season that ended with victory over the Miami in the final of the College Football Playoffs in January.
Many key figures in Trump’s administration were at the reception, including Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick. Trump was awarded an Indiana jersey, football and helmet during the ceremony before he gave the Indiana players a tour of the Oval Office.
