Red Sox players — including MVP — join manager in boycotting Trump
Athletes continue to reject Trump’s racism.
At least eight members of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox are joining their manager in boycotting the team’s scheduled visit on Thursday to the Trump White House.
American League MVP Mookie Betts is included in the group of players rejecting Trump — who are all men of color, mostly with Latino backgrounds. The Washington Post reports that players Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers, Sandy Leon, Eduardo Nunez, David Price, Christian Vazquez and Hector Velazquez will be snubbing Trump.
Earlier in the week, manager Alex Cora announced that he would not attend the White House ceremony. Cora specifically cited Trump’s complete failure in his response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Trump’s embrace of open racism and bigotry has made the White House radioactive.
For both Democratic and Republican presidents, visits to the White House by championship teams were usually uncontroversial. But now, athletes routinely avoid the events so that their presence is not seen as an endorsement of Trump’s noxious beliefs.
This includes both college and professional teams, and both men’s and women’s athletics.
Trump is a racist, who regularly uses the bully pulpit of the presidency to push racist policies and rhetoric. He has repeatedly attacked Latinos with cruel anti-immigration policies that include separating children from their parents. He described Mexicans as “rapists” and migrants as “animals.” He decried immigration from nonwhite countries and described those nations as “shithole” countries.
Athletes, especially people of color, do not want to be associated with that brand of hate.
What Trump touches becomes tainted, and sports is no exception. Athletes want no part of denigrating the pastimes they love by including Trump.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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