Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora made headlines years ago when he decided to skip an invite to then-President Donald Trump's White House after leading the Sox to a World Series victory.

According to Fox News, Cora recently broke his silence on what many perceived as a snub against Trump during Wednesday interview on "The Mayor's Office" podcast, saying he only passed up the invitation so that he could remain focused on his home country of Puerto Rico.

At the time of the invitation to the White House, Puerto Rico was still suffering from the aftermath of the devastating storm known as Hurricane Maria, which demolished the island nation in 2017.

Cora admitted that he wasn't satisfied with the U.S. government's response to the hurricane damage clean-up and recovery efforts.

What did he say?

Cora explained that his decision to bypass the team invite at Trump's White House wasn't due to personal feelings about President Trump, noting that he had nothing against him at the time.

"One of the things that — it's not that I regret, but I think I should've been more clear — it was a visit to the White House," Cora said. "I have nothing against the President at that moment. It was Donald Trump at that moment, President Trump, but I felt me celebrating something at that stage, while [Puerto Ricans] were still suffering, it was bad. I didn't feel comfortable doing it."

The Red Sox manager said a visit to the White House at that time would have felt "awkward" to him.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora says he skipped Trump White House visit to show support for Puerto Rico https://t.co/HXFBeU4JI5

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 11, 2025

He was also careful to show gratitude for the United States for everything it does for Puerto Rico overall, but clearly he felt more could have been done at the time for the country in the aftermath of the storm.

"We are part of the United States," Cora continued. "What they do for us is amazing — the funding, all of that — but there was still work to do. And I felt very awkward, like, 'let's celebrate this at the White House' right while a lot of people suffered here. People took it like politics. No. My thing is sports and my family, right? I regret because I wasn't clear about it."

Social media reacts

Many on social media weren't buying Cora's explanation, noting that Trump did more for Puerto Rico than any other president, with others pointing out that the reports of Puerto Rico officials not properly distributing U.S. aid after the storm.

"Well, Puerto Rico loves Trump so that was a waste," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Cora should leave politics out of sports!"

Clearly, Cora's explanation didn't go over well with Trump's supporters.