Donald Trump, a man who thinks exercise will kill you, has received an honorary ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo.
The ex-president was presented with the honor by Lee Dong Seop, the president of Kukkiwon, the world Taekwondo headquarters located in South Korea. He told Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo that “I heard that Donald Trump is highly interested in Taekwondo,” most likely because his buddy Vladimir Putin also received the same honor in 2013. Neither man has ever been known to practice Taekwondo.
Issued by Kukkiwon president Lee Dong-sup, Trump received the honorary belt at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Kukkiwon posted the exchange to its Facebook page, where Trump can be seen wearing a traditional taekwondo uniform, outfitted with a black dan belt. In taekwondo, the ninth dan belt is the highest level a person can achieve.
“It is my honor to receive Honorary Dan Certificate and I think Taekwondo is magnificent martial art for self-defense,” Trump was quoted as saying on Kukkiwon’s Facebook page. “I wish to see Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team’s demonstration.” The post comes with the disclaimer, “This ceremony is not related any other political issues.”
A ninth-degree black belt takes decades of training and “incredible devotion to the art, hard work, and consistent training for life,” and one must “also have to have overseen a significant number of black belts and/or other such accomplishments.”
The losers and haters out there might think Trump doesn’t deserve the honorary black belt. But I disagree: “watching Bloodsport a lot” counts as an accomplishment.
If Trump were to spar against another black belt on live TV I promise to never ask for anything ever again. https://t.co/e4g356FaBe
— Dan Emerson (@dscapp) November 22, 2021
I’ve always thought giving honorary degrees to the rich & famous is an insult to those who actually did the real work of EARNING their degrees & at great financial burden I might add. But this is truly pathetic. https://t.co/epL602qlwu
— Sissy is Embarrassed By Shih Tzu Say (@sissyroxx) November 22, 2021
losing my mind at that picture of trump w/ his honorary taekwando black belt, he’s holding his hands like a little anime cat girl, lmao it’s too fucking much
— Eric Williams (@Geo_Liminal) November 22, 2021
thats worse than giving rush limbaugh a medal of freedom, but twice as funny.
Trump taekwando: Donald is awarded his ninth BLACK belt at Mar-a-lago https://t.co/642b387cy5
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@dennisp101155) November 22, 2021
Add this to his list of things that he never deserved nor worked for…’honorary titles’ are so tacky. Remember…this is the same guy who holds his glass or bottle of water with both hands…now he will tout that he is ‘the best in martial arts’…
https://t.co/ru8lvoclJn
— AMBER *OFFICIAL* (@ambersings) November 22, 2021
What an insult to anyone who has “earned” a black belt. Sadly disturbing and insulting. https://t.co/9eMozfsBRl
— lynn (@lynn48488949) November 23, 2021
He doesn’t even know how to hold his fists up in a fight pose. What even. https://t.co/OaxlCHCcvm
— Your Mom (@realyourmom716) November 22, 2021
I wanna see him do one single roundhouse kick https://t.co/ugmI38JP23
— Mechanical Bandit (@MechaBandit) November 22, 2021
(Via the Hill)