TORONTO — Much like the controversial politician himself, Connor McDavid‘s decision to dress as Donald Trump for a Halloween party has received a polarizing reaction on social media.
A photo posted Monday on an Instagram account belonging to McDavid’s girlfriend shows the Edmonton Oilers star dressed as a svelte version of U.S President Donald Trump, complete with an American flag lapel pin on his dark suit and a messy blond wig.
McDavid posed with girlfriend Lauren Kyle, who was dressed as First Lady Melania Trump, and the photo received over 4,500 likes, as well as some negative comments.
The initial Instagram caption read "Making America great again," before being edited to "Mr and Mrs Trumpus."
"The caption is all kinds of tone deaf, specially seeing as that ‘catch phrase’ is used by Trump to promote racism/homophobia, etc!," said one Instagram user when criticizing the original caption.
More snarky comments on Twitter and Instagram were quick to follow.
One Twitter user posted "figures that the first time connor mcdavid showed even a hint of personality it would be to showcase that he’s actually a bad person," while another wrote: "It appears Connor McDavid misinterpreted the Oilers’ need for offensive right wingers."
Others were annoyed with the negative reactions to the costume
"If you are upset about Connor McDavid’s Halloween costume, you may be wasting energy that could be used on something, anything, that actually matters," wrote a user.
As for the costume itself, one Instagram commenter summed it up nicely: "Tie too short. Gut too small. Skin not orange enough. More Pulp Fiction than Fictitious (Fake) News."
McDavid didn’t consider his costume to be news, fake or otherwise.
"You know what? It’s a Halloween costume, and that’s all it was," he told reporters after practice Tuesday. "It was not meant to be anything or mean anything. It was a Halloween costume. That’s all I say about it."
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