“I have a problem”: social media boils over about Wayne Gretzky attending Trump victory party

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Wayne Gretzky attended a Donald Trump victory party, an exclusive A-list event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in West Pam Beach, Fla., on Tuesday night.

Not surprisingly, all hell broke loose on social media.

Here are some of the highlights:

Janet (Jones) Gretzky
Congratulations Mr. President Donald J Trump ♥️🤍💙🇺🇸 You did it, You deserved it , you earned every bit of it . The world is a better place to have you as our Leader , Proud to be an American . Thank you for being such a great friend . May God keep watching over you ♥️🙏🏻♥️ Love our family to yours !

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Oilers fan Justin Sinkevich @Gphumanbeing
I approve.

Lawyer and businessman Jon-David Giacomelli @JonGiacomelli
The Great one meeting with the other Great one…sounds about right!

Isabelle Legault @Isabulle24
People should burn all their old hockey jersey and cards of this guy. A shame

Liberal Party of Canada strategist Andrew Perez @andrewaperez :
Woah. Wayne Gretzky attended Trump’s victory party. Not sure this guy is the Canadian icon and encapsulation of Canadian values that many think he is. The first red flag was his very partisan support for Stephen Harper’s Conservatives starting in the mid-2000s. No thanks, Wayne!

Canadian firearms activistTracey Wilson @TWilsonOttawa in response to Perez:
“If you’re not a rabid leftist you can’t be a Canadian icon with Canadian values” – some lefty guy
They haven’t learned a thing.

Former Conservative M.P. Jeff Watson YYC 🇨🇦🇭🇷🇮🇱 @JeffWatsonYYC Owner in response to Perez:
“The Great One” being criticized by … one of significantly lesser accomplishment. Just another Liberal conflating Liberal “values” with Canadian values.

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Alberta business owner Kevin Pacitti in response to Perez:
Shut up. Seriously. This is EXACTLY why the left lost down south. But you haven’t learned a thing because you’re all too moronic to realize you don’t own the rights to values. Believe it or not, not everyone thinks like you dipsh*ts.

Canadian commenter Zev Ben Meir @ZevBenMeirBC in response to Perez:
It’s time for an era where people agree to disagree about politics and maintain a friendship at the same time. Andrew, I would have voted for Trump if I was American and I’d still love to break bread with you and being your friend

Andrew Perez, in response to Zev Ben Meier:
I’m afraid agreeing to disagree doesn’t work with MAGA Republicans.

University of Alberta professor Robert (Bob) Summers @RJSCity:
He’s been a pretty unlikable guy for a long time, this just further solidifies it. He was an amazing hockey player.

National Post columnistn Chris Selley @cselley:
I love how there’s this little spasm of disappointment every time people discover/remember that Wayne Gretzky is conservative, and then it just fades away until the next spasm.

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Toronto Glive & Mail columnist Andrew Coyne @acoyne:
I have no problem with Gretzky being a conservative. I do have a problem with him hanging with Trump. Who, for starters, is not a conservative.

Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington @joe_warmington
The Great One ⁦WayneGretzky looking Great in his MAGA hat at Mar-a-lago with Trump Organization VP Larry Glick for the Donald Trump presidential victory — no matter what the cancel crowd haters say. #99 is a winner and was celebrating with winners.

Oilers fan Collin Watts @power4watts:
Still #1 hockey player ever.

Oilers fan Aaron Josh @AaronJosh13:
“Hockey Is For Everyone” bahaha

Oilers fan SparkyKev @SparkyKevOilers:
Good for him. Everyone should have the right to support whomever they want. Why do celebs not face any backlash for supporting Kamala?

Podcaster Ted Bird @manofbird :
The pissants complaining about Wayne Gretzky attending Trump’s victory party are the same people who would’ve snitched on their own kids for playing road hockey during COVID.

Bryan Gilbert @BryanVicBC:
This is tragic news. How could Gretzky, or anyone really, support such narcissistic evil?

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K.M. Ryan @ktownkeith:
Gretzky is disgusting and pathetic. I will celebrate when Ovechkin breaks his record. Also FYI, Mario was the best hockey player ever, not Whine Gretzky.

Craig Needles @NeedlesOnNews in response to Ryan:
If you don’t like Gretzky’s politics, I have some news about Ovechkin’s…

Political commentator and retired energy executive Marty Belanger @Martyupnorth_2:
Oilers’ Legend Wayne Gretzky Attends Donald Trump Election Event .Imagine going to an event with Trump and Gretzky. How awesome would that be? Where I come from, Wayne is still royalty.

Former airline COO Duncan Dee:
WayneGretzky was a hockey player. He wasn’t a political commentator. What he says about politics matters to me as much as what he says about how airlines work. He didn’t ask people to vote for a candidate, he attended a party. Not sure we need to dwell on this any more.

Oilers fan RJ Boyer:
Omg a rich white hockey guy is a conservative, I wonder how his rich white son in law golfer is going to handle this news? lol

Montreal contributing music editor Dave MacIntyre @dave_macattack:
Wayne Gretzky being at Cheeto’s inauguration party is disappointing in ways I can’t properly express in a tweet. And no, I don’t care that hockey culture is conservative. Being fiercely opposed to a fascist dictator should be the absolute floor for anyone with a conscience….He ain’t the GOAT for me anymore

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Rob Goodall @RobGoodall6 in response to MacIntyre:
It’s like you have no idea what the words “fascist” or “dictator” mean.

Laura Jean @laura_j_62:
Nobody should GAF what the unhinged lefties say, and certainly not this incredible man!

Former RCAF intel officer Greg Barteluk @GBarteluk:
I loved watching Gretzky play, and don’t have the slightest interest in knowing his political preferences.

Suzanne Allen@suzannealma:
Wayne Gretzky is a Canadian hero, an icon and greatest ever hockey player..let him vote for who he wants to..he is dearly loved across the nation and around the world..forget about Andrew Coyne.

Edmonton commentator Kristin Raworth @KristinRaworth:
Also like everyone needs to get over the fact Gretzky is a conservative who likes Trump. WHO CARES?!? Maybe spending your emotional energy being mad at a former hockey player for opinions you don’t like is why folks have a hard time engaging with you

Hockey fan Gary Corson @GarycorsoN54:
Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky will never be cancelled! #MAGA

Digital campaign manager Stephen Taylor @stephen_taylor:
It’s very funny (and sad) that Wayne Gretzky has more access than Melanie Joly.

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My take

Cool: Having an opinion on Wayne Gretzky’s support of Trump. It’s a free country. All of us entitled to be wrong, each in our own unique way.

Not cool: Suggesting Gretzky should be cancelled over it.

It’s that kind of rancid, puritanical over-reach that got Trump elected, right?

My own take: Gretzky can think what he wants. So can you. So can I. What of it? No big deal.

No one is a fascist or a Nazi or evil (at least very, very few of us). But as a herd we can all start going too far in one direction.

We’ve become far too divided, too bent out of shape, too prone to hissy fits because other people have political views we don’t like.

The Woke are by far the worst offenders, but we’ve all become guilty of this.

How about we get back to accepting other folks have other perspectives, no big deal, no reason to loose our own minds over it, no imperative to join the social media mob and start acting like petty tyrants trying to censor and cancel the opposition.

Make sense?

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