David Ortiz: Cora would 'shake hands with the enemy' by visiting White House

If David Ortiz was in Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora's shoes, he'd skip a visit to the White House too.

Recently asked for his thoughts on Cora skipping the team's scheduled visit with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, Big Papi sided with the Puerto Rican skipper.

"Alex is in a tough spot right now, going there and acting like nothing is happening," the retired Red Sox slugger told Rob Bradford of WEEI. "It's like you are going to shake hands with the enemy. Think about it, all the stuff that has been going on since he took office. People are angry. People are mad. He has divided people, that's how it feels like."

Cora said earlier this week that he didn't "feel comfortable celebrating" at the White House because of the Trump administration's handling of aid to Puerto Rico after hurricanes devastated the U.S. territory last year.

Ortiz, who visited the White House three times and met two different presidents as a member of previous World Series-winning Red Sox teams, explained why he wouldn't attend the visit if he was still playing.

"I don't think it's the political side of it. I think it's more of what is going on," said Ortiz, a native of the Dominican Republic. "I'm an immigrant. When it comes down to the political side of it, I don't know much about politics and things like that. But when it comes down the way immigrants have been treated, it's something that goes a long way.

"You don't want to go and shake hands with a guy who is treating immigrants like (expletive) because I'm an immigrant."

Along with Cora, a number of Red Sox players including Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and David Price have already confirmed they won't be visiting the White House.