Reporter Gets Biden Reaction to Baseball’s Opening Day Cancellation at Air Force One Briefing

Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked for President Joe Biden’s reaction to Major League Baseball’s announcement that Opening Day has been canceled amid a labor dispute.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced this week that Opening Day 2022 has been canceled due to the ongoing lockout, as well as games through April 7. The lockout is the first time regular-season games have been lost to a labor dispute since 1995.

“Our failure to reach agreement was not for lack of effort by either party,” Manfred said. “The unfortunate thing is the agreement we offered players had huge benefits to fans and players.”

Ms. Jeann-Pierre briefed reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday en route to Wisconsin, and was asked to give the president’s reaction to the cancellation. KJP had a statement at the ready:

Q I have one final question for you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. Go ahead.

Q Is there — are you aware of any reaction or comment from the President to Major League Baseball’s decision to cancel Opening Day?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I do have something on that. So collective bargaining is a private dispute-resolution process in which the parties to the negotiation work out their differences and agree to the terms and conditions of employment.

The Major League Baseball negotiations are a matter for the players, the league, and the owners. Baseball fans may have some opinions as well. We leave that to them.

The best role for government is to encourage the parties to comment — to commit themselves fully to collective bargaining that reaches an agreement. And that’s how we feel here.

We encourage Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to stay at the bargaining table and reach an agreement as soon as they can so we can kick off the season and get back to enjoying baseball games.

Watch above via The White House.