Greg Norman doubles down on Donald Trump support, defends his coronavirus response

A whopping 230,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 but Greg Norman believes the US president should be cut some slack.

Greg Norman has doubled down on his support for Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming election, defending the US president’s handling of COVID-19 but lamenting the ever-increasing political division within American society

The Aussie golf legend believes Trump can defy the polls and beat Joe Biden to another term in the White House, despite the horrific toll coronavirus has taken in the US.

America’s death toll from the virus currently stands at 230,000. The country has repeatedly set new records for daily infections over the last week, and broke the 100,000 mark for the first time two days ago.

More than 40,000 Americans are hospitalised, and there are fears that deaths will spike again in the coming weeks, as fatalities tend to lag behind any increase in cases.

Trump continues to insist that the US is “rounding the turn” and the virus is “going away”.

Speaking to Seven News about Trump’s response to the global pandemic, Norman suggested he shouldn’t be judged on a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“You name me one individual on this planet, one individual that has experienced a pandemic like this — nobody,” Norman said. “It was 100 years ago, right?”

Norman praised Trump for giving “a rudder to millions and millions of Americans that never had a rudder before”, adding the famous businessman turned politician “gave them a voice, he gave them a belief”.

Donald Trump is gunning for a second term.

Greg Norman wants to see a Trump victory this week.

However, there are fears violence will erupt in America when the election rolls around on Wednesday (AEDT) at a time when the country is in crisis. Norman, who lives in the States, says he’s never seen the US divided like this before and is upset people are regularly being shouted down for simply voicing their political opinion.

“It is the strangest of times. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,” Norman told Channel 7.

“Is it social media or is it the president? Is it the Democrats or is it the Republicans? I think it’s a combination of everything to tell you the truth.

“You can’t bully people to do something. Can you imagine if you and I are sitting here and somebody right now came up in my face because I’m talking positive about Trump?

“I’m allowed my opinion.”

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Norman’s remarks come after he gave a ringing endorsement of Trump, who he has mingled with socially, in an exclusive interview with The Australian last week.

“(From) my business perspective, he’s done a phenomenal job,” Norman told the publication. “He has ­pretty much stuck to all his promises he made when he was elected.

“Very few people who are elected as president follow through on their promises.

“Yes, he is bombastic; yes, he has a different style; but to see him actually commit to his word about what he wants to do is actually pretty impressive.

“And it’s having a domino effect on the American economy, it has a domino effect on people I employ.”