Former President Donald Trump delivered a scathing rebuke of Major League Baseball’s decision to pull its 2021 All-Star Game out of Georgia, calling for a boycott of baseball and all “woke” companies seeking to interfere with voting reforms.
What are the details?
MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. announced Friday that the league was stripping its All-Star Game and the draft from Atlanta, citing Georgia’s recently-passed election law.
The sweeping legislation requires that absentee ballots be verified with photo ID, expands early voting for primary and general elections, and puts added securing measures in place for ballot dropboxes. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed the bill into law last week, sparking fury from Democrats who say the reforms restrict voting rights.
Late that night, Trump issued a statement of his own, saying that “baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans, and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the Radical Left Democrats who do not want voter I.D., which is desperately needed, to have anything to do with our elections.”
“Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections,” he continued, adding, “Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all!”
NEW, Statement by #Trump on #MLB:
“Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans, and now they leave Atlant… https://t.co/hmDgLJE7Ef— Mr Producer (@Mr Producer)1617414427.0
The former president was not alone in criticizing the MLB for its move. Gov. Kemp reacted to the news by saying that “Georgians — and all Americans — should fully understand what the MLB’s knee-jerk decision means: cancel culture and woke political activists are coming for every aspect of your life, sports included.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted a list of MLB’s official sponsors to his Twitter feed with the message, “These are MLB’s corporate sponsors, who pressured to pull the All Star game out of Atlanta. Do all of them oppose voter ID? Are all of them willing to be the woke enforcers of the corrupt Democratic Party? And do all hate the 75m who voted for Trump?”
These are MLB’s corporate sponsors, who pressured to pull the All Star game out of Atlanta.
Do all of them oppose… https://t.co/e6srQfdx6L
— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz)1617416061.0
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) pointed out that MLB has a recruitment deal with communist Cuba, asking the league, “how many dropboxes does Cuba use for early voting?”
Hey @MLB, how many dropboxes does Cuba use for early voting? https://t.co/6IYISsVKAE
— Tom Cotton (@Tom Cotton)1617393312.0
Cotton was one of many who pointed out the position MLB has put itself in by trying to punish Georgia over politics.
Reporters were quick to note that several states have more restrictive voting laws than Georgia already on the books, leading to questions over what the MLB’s new standards are for a state to host the All-Star Game.
