Ex-Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard praises Trump during White House visit

Former MLB pitcher Noah Syndergaard, best known for his stint as a young star with the New York Mets, spoke out in support of President Donald Trump while criticizing the president’s critics on Tuesday.

Syndergaard said he’s always been a fan of Trump and met him for the first time at the White House on Tuesday for an event celebrating the Presidential Fitness Test.

“It’s a dream come true, I’m riding this bliss in this moment,” Syndergaard said of meeting Trump during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle.”

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New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of a baseball game in Atlanta on Oct. 3, 2021. (Ben Margot/AP)

“I really just don’t quite understand the negativity or the pessimism he gets from the media and some of the population of this nation because he’s just such a patriotic guy and he cares so much everybody and the health of this nation and the health of this world.”

Syndergaard went on to say he was “envious” of Trump’s mental energy at age 79.

“I‘m envious of the mental energy that this guy has, the sharpness he has, the comedic nature of everything he says. He’s just a joy to be around,” Syndergaard said.

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Noah Syndergaard of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch during the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 30, 2023. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Syndergaard was one of Trump’s athlete guests at the White House Tuesday for the event celebrating Trump’s plan to bring annual fitness tests back to school in the United States.

“Professional baseball pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, sometimes known as Thor, and he looks like Thor to me,” Trump said to Syndergaard during the ceremony. “That is a man that I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with.”

Syndergaard said he is a staunch supporter of the fitness testing, recounting his own experience with the tests as a child.

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Starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 15, 2023. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

“It just kind of hits home to me because I just remember doing all these tests throughout elementary school, intermediate school. And from a kid that, if you would have told me, I’d be sitting here talking to you, talking about the Presidential Fitness Council when I was, I don’t know, 10 years old, I would have called you, you’re crazy. And as a kid, I kind of, I grew up as a, what we’d call a late bloomer or a husky kid,” Syndergaard said.

“It’s important to be healthy and to be active and get out and compete and just expose yourself to as many sports and activities as you possibly can. I mean just the interaction I had with all the kids today, getting able to throw a couple of grounds balls, do some pull ups, just get out in the sunshine and the White long was just an amazing experience.”

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