Pronunciation guides are your friend.
That’s the lesson that President Donald Trump learned on Thursday when he was faced with the challenge of pronouncing Tua Tagovailoa’s name.
It wasn’t particularly close from the commander-in-chief, who butchered the last name of the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback.
Take a look:
Trump was announcing that he has reestablished the Presidential Fitness Test, which went away at the end of the 2012-13 school year. In doing so, the president also established a council that includes professional athletes, with Tagovailoa also being involved.
“Saquon Barkley is on the council, and Tua Tagovailoa [tag-oh-vah-lee-ah], the quarterback who is … really he’s been fantastic, … when he’s not injured,’ Trump said. ‘He’s got to stay healthy,”
Trump isn’t the first – and likely won’t be the last – to struggle with the pronunciation, but to his credit, the president battled through it.
Like a classic politician, Trump quickly pivoted and turned the attention to the quarterback’s health – making it seem as though he wasn’t tripped up on the pronunciation.