One of the late golf legend Arnold Palmer鈥檚 daughters calls Donald Trump鈥檚 references to her father鈥檚 genitalia 鈥渁 poor choice of approaches鈥 to honoring his memory, adding that she wasn鈥檛 upset by the remarks.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing much to say. I鈥檓 not really upset,鈥 Peg Palmer Wears, 68, told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday. 鈥淚 think it was a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father, but what are you going to do?鈥
On Saturday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania 鈥 the city where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to golf from his father 鈥 Trump kicked off his rally in the campaign鈥檚 closing weeks with a detailed, 12-minute story about Palmer that included an anecdote about what Palmer looked like in the showers.
鈥淲hen he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, 鈥極h my God. That鈥檚 unbelievable,鈥欌 Trump said with a laugh. 鈥淚 had to say. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.鈥
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Wears said that she had only had passing encounters with Trump at functions decades ago but that her father and the GOP presidential nominee, an avid golfer who owns courses around the world, primarily shared a kinship over 鈥渁n interest in golf and a love of golf.鈥
Emotional at times as she recalled conversations with her father, who died in 2016 at 87, Wears said her father 鈥渂elieved in the Republican Party.鈥
鈥淎 day doesn鈥檛 go by that I don鈥檛 think about what my father would say about something or what鈥檚 happening,鈥 Wears said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 always agree on things, but he was a quintessential American who believed fervently in this country, even when he questioned its direction.鈥
Asked three times Sunday on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union,鈥 about what he thought of Trump鈥檚 remarks, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., refused to answer.
鈥淚鈥檒l address it, let me answer it,鈥 Johnson said, without ever answering the question. 鈥淒on鈥檛 say it again. We don鈥檛 have to say it. I get it.鈥
Gov. Chris Sununu, R-N.H., told ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥 that he didn鈥檛 like Trump鈥檚 comments, including one in which he used a profanity to refer to Vice President Kamala Harris, but that the former president鈥檚 remarks would not sway voters one way or the other.
鈥淚 mean it鈥檚 just par for the course. He speaks in hyperbole. He gets his crowds riled up,鈥 Sununu said.
But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who backs Harris, argued the comments show how little Trump is focusing on important issues, which will turn off voters.
鈥淚 think you have a lot of Americans, whether you are conservative, whether you鈥檙e progressive or moderate, who say, 鈥橰eally?鈥欌 Sanders said on CNN. 鈥淲e have major issues facing this country. Is this the kind of human being that we want as president of the United States?鈥
Wears, who declined to say for whom she would vote in the Nov. 5 election, said she would be casting her ballot in North Carolina, a pivotal state, and described herself as an 鈥渦naffiliated鈥 voter.
鈥淭he people of western Pennsylvania are very smart people, and they鈥檙e very hard working, and they鈥檒l make their own decisions, as I will make my own decision, using all the history and awareness I have,鈥 Wears said of the upcoming election. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what I hope people go vote with.鈥
Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at . Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Washington contributed to this report.