If being president doesn’t work out for Donald Trump, perhaps the former star of The Apprentice can land a gig hosting FOX’s Love Connection reboot. According to Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Clay Buchholz, the Commander in Chief decided to play matchmaker at an event that the two men attended years ago, and this resulted in Buchholz meeting the woman who would eventually become his wife.
During a recent interview with USA Today , Clay Buchholz opened up about his friendship with Donald Trump and how he first met the future president. He admitted that he’s well aware that Trump is “not the most popular guy,” but he counts himself among the scandal-plagued POTUS’s supporters because he believes that Trump has delivered on every campaign promise that he’s made. The MLB star will also be forever grateful to the president because he never would have met the love of his life if it weren’t for Trump’s occasionally brazen behavior in social situations.
According to Buchholz, he first met Donald Trump in 2008. He was playing for the Boston Red Sox at the time, and he and a few teammates had decided to head to Anaheim, California to attend an MMA fight. The Affliction clothing company had recently announced that it was forming a partnership with Donald Trump, and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen had been named the Chief Operating Officer of Affliction Entertainment. This explains Trump’s involvement in the “Affliction: Banned” event that saw Tim Sylvia face off against Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, a fighter who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. As reported by The Daily Beast , Emelianenko was questioned by the FBI in April of this year for an undisclosed reason.
According to Bleacher Report , Trump took the stage during the “Affliction: Banned” weigh-ins, where he introduced Deal or No Deal briefcase model Lindsay Clubine to the crowd. He informed the cheering fans that more of the “ Deal or No Deal girls” would be attending the fight the following night. He also said that Clubine was covering the event for Extra .
“Can you believe this is what a reporter looks like?” Trump can be heard saying in a YouTube video of the weigh-ins.
Lindsay Clubine and the other Deal or No Deal briefcase models attended the afterparty for the UFC fight, as did Donald Trump and Clay Buchholz. According to the pitcher, Trump tried to set up single male guests with the women.
“I remember him saying, ‘Ok, who’s single here and who’s married?’” Buchholz recounted. “I told him I was single. That’s when he introduced me.”
The briefcase model that Donald Trump introduced him to was Lindsay Clubine. She and Clay Buchholz spent the entire night getting to know one another, and they were married a year later at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. However, Trump did not attend their wedding. He and Buchholz kept in touch for a while, but they haven’t spoken to each other since Trump became president.
A.L East Champs!!! #champagneshowers #bringonOctober #Goredsox pic.twitter.com/hV8j2MTxv8
— Lindsay Clubine (@LindsayClubine) September 29, 2016
Clay Buchholz and Lindsay Clubine currently reside in Austin, Texas, where they are raising their three children, seven-year-old daughter Colbi, four-year-old daughter Landri, and 15-month-old son Jax.
“If not for the president, none of this [is] possible,” Buchholz said of his family. “He’ll always be a good friend. I’m able to tell my kids that the President of the United States introduced their mom and dad.”