President Joe Biden publicly backed the mob pressuring Major League Baseball to move its July All-Star Game from Atlanta after the Georgia Legislature passed an election reform law he deemed “Jim Crow in the 21st century.”
“I think today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that. People look to them. They’re leaders,” Biden said in an interview with ESPN on Wednesday. “Look what’s happened with the NBA, as well. Look what’s happened across the board. The very people who are victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports, and it’s just not right.”
Biden’s call to action follows demands from the MLB Players Association, a trade union, to reconsider hosting the game in the Peach State.
“Players are very much aware of the Georgia voting bill, which places restrictions on voting that some believe will make it particularly difficult for black voters to reach the polls,” the MLB Players Association, a trade union, executive director said. “As it relates to the All-Star Game, we have not had a conversation with the league on that issue. If there is an opportunity to, we would look forward to having that conversation.”
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the outrage over the election bill has sparked initiatives for “substantive conversations,” with the union seeking a change.
“I am talking to various constituencies within the game and I’m just not going beyond that in terms of what I would consider or not consider,” Manfred said.
MLB is not the only organization reconsidering whether to cave to the mob’s wishes. Activists, civil rights organizations, movie directors, and other corporations in Georgia have called for a boycott of the state and companies headquartered there because of the “racist” law, spurring some companies to publicly denounce the legislation and politicians who passed it.
After facing boycott pressure from the African Methodist Episcopal Church and other groups, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey condemned the Georgia law as “unacceptable” and “a step backward” on Wednesday.
“This legislation is wrong and needs to be remedied, and we will continue to advocate for it both in private and now even more clearly in public,” he told CNBC.
EXCLUSIVE: Coca-Cola CEO says the restrictive Georgia voting law is “unacceptable…it is a step backward…”
Quincey also says “this legislation is wrong, and needs to be remedied, and we will continue to advocate for it both in private and in now even more clearly in public” pic.twitter.com/cdruteEiat
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) March 31, 2021
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian also sparred with the state’s Republican governor after sending a memo to employees on Wednesday calling the election reforms “unacceptable” and “based on a lie.”
“Today’s statement by Delta CEO Ed Bastian stands in stark contrast to our conversations with the company, ignores the content of the new law, and unfortunately continues to spread the same false attacks being repeated by partisan activists,” Gov. Brian Kemp said.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida also jumped into the scuffle to point out Delta’s business dealings with communist China despite its severe human rights abuses against the Uyghur people.
Dear @Delta:
You are business partners with the Communist Party of #China
When can we expect your letter saying that their ongoing genocide in #Xinjiang is “unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values”??? #WokeCorporateHypocrites
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 1, 2021
