Los Angeles Dodgers star Kiké Hernández explained why he won’t be in attendance when the team visits the White House to meet with President Trump later this month.
Hernández, 34, will be on a minor-league rehab assignment when the Dodgers head to Washington D.C. on July 23 to celebrate their World Series title. “It’s going to be hard to be in two cities at the same time,” Hernández told reporters on Friday, July 10.
He added, “If I was active, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways.”
When pressed for a reason, Hernández said, “I’d rather take a day off than do team activities.”
Dodgers star Mookie Betts has also said he will not attend the festivities at the White House, but insisted it was not a political decision.
“I’m not trying to make this a whole big deal,” Betts, 33, told the California Post in a story published on Saturday, July 11. “We just had a baby. You don’t get many days off. They’re coming [on the road trip]. And just want to hang out with the fam. That’s really kind of it. But people are gonna make it a whole bunch of other stuff.”
He added, “If I do [go], people are gonna hate me. If I don’t, people are gonna hate me. So instead of trying to make everyone else happy, I’m gonna think about myself and my family.”
Betts and his wife, Brianna, share three children: daughters Kynlee, 7, and Khari, 3 months, and son Kaj, 3.
The Dodgers released a statement about the White House visit on July 9, which comes a year after the team — including Hernández and Betts — met with Trump, 80, to celebrate their 2024 World Series title.
“As was the case one year ago, the Dodgers’ upcoming visits to the White House and Capitol Hill follow the longtime tradition of visits by other World Series champions,” the franchise said. “We appreciate these tributes in recognition of our back-to-back championships.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the meeting “took a long time to get both sides together.”
“Honestly, like I’ve always said, my company line, my personal line, is I hope that we get this invitation every year,” Roberts, 54, told reporters after the visit was confirmed. “Because that’s the goal, to win a championship, to get this invitation to the White House. I’m not a politician and I’m doing something that teams have done for decades. That’s where I stand, really. I’m a baseball coach. That’s what I do.”
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