Mariano Rivera had a message for the Daily Beast writer who published a hit piece on him before he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday.

The Panamanian-American professional athlete played on the Yankees for 19 seasons as a pitcher. Daily Beast writer Robert Silverman published a hit piece Sunday on Rivera, labeling him as “far-right” because of his Christian faith and friendship with President Donald Trump.

Rivera responded to the article on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday, saying that it “won’t change his position.”

Silverman alleged that Rivera has “served at the pleasure of a racist president” and “gotten chummy with outright bigots and apocalyptic loons.”

“You have the power to say whatever you wanna say,” Rivera said. “That won’t change my position, that won’t change my belief.”

Rivera also talked about his friendship with Trump, saying he won’t turn his back on the president and he believes “he is doing the best for the United States of America.”

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“I’ll tell you what, I mean, Mr. President … Trump, to me, he was a friend of mine before he became the president, OK?” Rivera said Wednesday. “So, I mean, because he’s president, I will turn my back on him? No, I respect him. I respect what he does. I believe he is doing the best for the United States of America. I’m his friend.”