Gary Lineker’s venture into political chat has been met with a mixed reception.
The former England striker was encouraged to stay in his lane when he decided to take a pop at presidential candidate Donald Trump – sure, it makes a change from the usual ‘shat on…’ responses, but it feels a little like barking up the wrong tree.
After all, when your mate from work tweets about politics you don’t tell him or her ‘stick to tweeting about office supplies’. Actually, maybe you do. We don’t want to jump to conclusions.
But I digress.
Lineker has not been deterred by the response to his Trump tweets. After seeing a bit of backlash to the UK letting in more refugees, the Match of the Day presenter spoke out once more.
The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What's happening to our country?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 18, 2016
Thankfully, the reaction to Lineker’s latest comments was entirely measured and sympathetic. No, wait, not that. The other thing.
https://twitter.com/dent791/status/788407511644790787
Stick to MOTD and leave all the racist cobblers to the soppy left guardian readers.
— Denzel (@HalcyonDays78) October 18, 2016
https://twitter.com/martinjames1138/status/788417725660102656
Gary your elitist bubble does not see the truth. Stick to football you make yourself look an idiot commenting on this subject
— Paul Lacey MUL. (@pllacey1) October 18, 2016
https://twitter.com/j1mbobber/status/788417322927153152
That’s not to say there weren’t some messages of support. Some were pleased to see a high-profile figure such as Lineker speak out, amid claims that ‘child’ refugees ‘appeared’ older than 18 years old.
Debate has raged amid unfounded claims that the individuals in question are not children, including from politicians, despite the Home Office stating that assessments had been carried out to verify the ages of those involved.
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