San Jose Sharks players Logan Couture drew attention on Twitter Wednesday morning with a tweet about an altercation in Toronto. He said that he had been “sucker punched” for saying that he would support the Republican party and that his father is a former police officer. Although the 31-year-old is a Canadian native and cannot vote in the November election.
“I spent last night in Toronto Ontario. I talked about voting for the Republican Party, and I mentioned Donald Trump by name. I was sucker punched. Is this really what we are coming to? If you vote you are a villain? Man this world is so wrong,” Couture said in a now-deleted tweet. “Craziest part is I don’t vote. I mentioned my father being a former police officer. I really don’t believe this is the world we live in.”
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Twitter users reacted to his messages in a variety of ways. One asked what the point of the question was while another said that “it sucks” that he was punched for expressing a political opinion. Couture did respond to the latter comment and said that he would never talk politics in public again, but he finds it “crazy” that if “you speak your own opinion violence happens.”
While Couture did ultimately delete the messages, the discussions continued on social media. Some Twitter users expressed happiness about the hockey player getting punched for expressing a political opinion while others accused him of making up the story. One person said that the incident was “his own fault” and that he was “trying to start something.”
Couture later released a statement on Twitter reflecting on the morning’s tweet. He said that he had been debating whether to speak further on the matter and that what he tweeted was “taken out of context.” Couture said in the statement that he wanted to elaborate further.
“Bringing politics to my platform is wrong,” he wrote on Wednesday. “While I did not do a good job of communicating my thoughts earlier today, I do believe that everyone is entitled to their own voice and opinions. But regardless of what anyone believes — and to be clear, I do not believe in supporting Donald Trump — responding with the violence isn’t the answer and doesn’t solve anything.
“I regret the decision to make this incident public. I apologize to the Sharks, as well as my family for having to deal with this. I hold myself to a high standard and I apologize for any of my comments that were poorly worded and do not reflect my true feelings or beliefs. I appreciate those who have reached out to me with their concern.”
