Wrestler Mick Foley quits WWE over Trump ties after Reiner comments

Wrestling great Mick Foley has called it quits with the WWE over its cozy relationship with President Donald Trump, he said Tuesday, citing “incredibly cruel comments” Trump made about film director Rob Reiner’s murder.

Long concerned with the WWE’s cozy relationship with Trump amid the administration’s “ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants,” Foley wrote in his announcement on social media, “reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me.”

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque, known in the wrestling world as Triple H, is a fixture at many White House events. Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon helmed the U.S. Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term and currently serves as U.S. Secretary of Education.

“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy,” Foley wrote. “Last night, I informed WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.”

Both Foley and Trump were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, Trump as a celebrity honoree.

Hours after Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered Sunday in their Los Angeles home with their throats slit, Trump posted a social media diatribe blaming Rob’s death on anger he incited with his liberal views. Blowback has come from all sides of the political spectrum. Their younger son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested for their murders.

Foley’s breakup with WWE was thorough.

“Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June,” Foley wrote. “I love WWE, will always treasure my time with them, and I am deeply appreciative for all the opportunities they afforded me. But, in the words of Popeye the sailor, ’I stands all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.’ ”

With News Wire Services