Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer served as the emcee of the controversial Saudi-funded LIV Golf series’ first press conference on Tuesday. His appearance at the event for the new golf league, a rival to the PGA Tour, comes ahead of the league’s invitational series in London on Thursday. Fleischer, the George W. Bush administration’s mouthpiece during the invasion of Iraq and a Fox News contributor, was questioned at the event about how he could partake in the Saudi-financed affair given his previous claim on Twitter that the Saudis are “willing to spend billions” to keep current leaders in power, but he shrugged off those 2011 comments, saying the tweet was “a long, long time ago,” according to ESPN reporter Kevin Van Valkenburg. His appearance comes after golf star Phil Mickelson made waves this week by signing a $200 million contract to play with the new league, despite calling the Saudis “scary motherfuckers” and previously calling out their human-rights abuses, including the crown prince’s reported role in the murder of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi. The PGA Tour commissioner has said golfers who participate in LIV Golf events face discipline, including possible lifetime bans.
