Donald Trump Announces Posthumous Pardon Of Pete Rose: “Never Betted Against Himself”

Following his Jan. 6 pardons, Donald Trump has turned his attention to a late disgraced MLB star.

On Friday, Trump announced a posthumous pardon for Pete Rose, who died at age 83 in September after he was banned from by the league and the Baseball Hall of Fame after he was accused in 1989 of betting on the Cincinnati Reds during his time as a player and team manager.

“Major League Baseball didn’t have the courage or decency to put the late, great, Pete Rose, also known as ‘Charlie Hustle,’ into the Baseball Hall of fame,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Now he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected, even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who made it, and can only be named posthumously. WHAT A SHAME!”

Trump added, “Anyway, over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING. He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history. Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!”

Rose’s iconic career was tainted forever by a gambling scandal when he was managing the Reds in the late 1980s. Then-MLB Commissioner Peter Uberroth and NL President Bart Giamatti questioned him about reports that Rose bet on baseball games. Initially, he admitted to gambling on other sports but denied betting on baseball.

Giamatti later was named MLB commissioner and pressed the investigation. In 1987, the Dowd Report — named for attorney John Down, who led the probe — concluded that Rose had bet on more than 50 Reds games in 1987 and others during the prior two seasons. Despite continuing to deny the allegations, Rose agreed to be banished to MLB’s ineligible list. Despite pleas from fans, fellow players and others, he never was reinstated, leaving him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame despite being one of the sport’s all-time greatest hitters.

In 2020, Trump stumped publicly for Rose’s reinstatement and consideration for the Hall of Fame. “He gambled, but only on his own team winning, and paid a decades long price,” Trump posted on Twitter. “GET PETE ROSE INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. It’s Time!”