Everyone on the internet last night became an expert on the logistics, equipment, and traditions of golf after former President Donald Trump wheeled around his Virginia course with a coterie of other men and no clubs or bags, prompting a bevy of accusations and conspiratorial assertions.
Trump was already in the eye of the internet rumor machine when he unexpectedly flew to Washington, D.C., wearing what might have been golf shoes.
The internet immediately went into sleuth mode, analyzing images of the former president on the course, and noticing a distinct lack of golf clubs.
Speculation ran rampant, accusing Trump of conducting a secret meeting (in public) with co-conspirators.
Images on the course do indeed show that the men don’t appear to have clubs.
“This could be a lot of things, but it golfing isn’t one of them,” wrote one Twitter user.
That the trip came on the day the New York Times revealed 40 Trump associates had been hit with subpoenas over their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot only added to the tension.
The Times said that aides as high up as Trump’s former social media director Dan Scavino were subpoenaed and that at least two phones were seized.
But unfortunately for internet sleuths who became sudden experts in golf and how it is or isn’t played, former broadcaster Keith Olbermann pointed out that what was going on most likely was … golf stuff, saying Trump loves to tour his courses with employees in tow.
“He used to do this crap at his building when I lived there. He points at stuff he wants fixed. It makes him feel big,” Olbermann tweeted.
Olbermann even recognized one of the figures on the course as his “VP of Golf.”
Another person seemed to spot his director of grounds for the course he was on from his LinkedIn profile.
Sometimes it really isn’t a conspiracy. It’s just golf.
