Former President Donald Trump, rarely afraid to call out hypocritical sports leagues, lambasted Major League Baseball Friday night, urging fans to boycott the “national pastime” due to its decision to pull the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta.
Trump asserted MLB’s leadership was “afraid of the Radical Left Democrats” and also slammed large “woke companies” that issued statements against Georgia’s election reform legislation.
“Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections. Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all!” Trump wrote.
Pressured by Democrats and Twitter mobs one day into a new season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred quickly caved to partisan politics and pitiable hysteria by relocating the Midsummer Classic, plus the annual draft, due to the state’s innocuous new election laws.
Part of his embarrassing statement read: “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box. In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States. We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support.”
Manfred, arguably the most misguided commissioner in baseball history, never explains MLB’s problems with the bill; rather he regurgitated clichés and woke pabulum. It’s just another fact-free corporate statement.
This decision came on the heels of President Joe Biden, in appalling moments of dishonesty, denouncing the law as “racist” and “Jim Crow” in recent days.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp shot back earlier this week, citing Biden’s failure to read the legislation and deceiving Americans about the legislation’s contents. During a Friday night interview, Kemp asserted that election laws in Delaware and New York — where MLB headquarters sit — are “stricter” than in Georgia.
“When you look at New York’s voting laws, you have to have an excuse to vote absentee by-mail in New York. You do not in Georgia,” Kemp told Tucker Carlson.
The bill actually expands voting opportunities by requiring counties to open polls for two Saturdays of early voting. It codifies drop boxes for ballots as a permanent feature of the voting system, and institutes a voter ID requirement that’s overwhelmingly supported by Americans.
The Washington Post‘s Glenn Kessler, a proud liberal, gave Biden “four Pinocchios” for his outrageous lies on this issue. He explained:
“Election Day hours were not changed and the opportunities to cast a ballot in early voting were expanded. The law made a modest change, replacing a vague phrase, ‘normal business hours’ — presumed to be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — to a more specific 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. time period. But that’s the minimum. Under the new law, counties have the option to extend the voting hours so voters can start casting ballots as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 7 p.m. — the same as Election Day in Georgia. Moreover, an additional mandatory day of early voting on Saturday was added and two days of early voting on Sunday were codified as an option for counties.”
While Georgia Democrat politicians disagreed with MLB, they quickly pounced on Republicans for the cancellation.
The White House never provided an explanation for Biden’s erroneous statements, which have now been repeated in a major press conference, an official statement, and a horrifying ESPN interview.
MLB is now seeking alternative locations, mostly in left-wing states, including Puerto Rico.
During his presidency, Trump hammered the NFL for national anthem protests and called the NBA a “political organization” when several teams boycotted playoff games to protest policing last year. Trump also has claimed the NBA is “bought off” by China, when the league kowtowed to Chinese Communists and star players refused to support freedom-seeking, pro-American Hongkongers.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
