Trump Does the Tomahawk Chop at the World Series in Atlanta Because Obviously

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Earlier this week, it was reported that Donald Trump was angling for a seat at game four of the World Series. Hosting the Houston Astros on Saturday night, the Atlanta Braves obliged.

Braves ownership gave the former president his own suite, where Trump was seen on multiple videos posted to Twitter doing the racist tomahawk chop that has been a staple of Braves home games for decades. Numerous Native American leaders and organizations have called on the team to ban the gesture.

https://twitter.com/samannraven/status/1454601642519797765

Former First Lady Melania Trump and former chief-of-staff Mark Meadows were also present and doing the dumb thing.

Braves CEO Terry McGruik explained to USA Today earlier in the week that Trump had requested seats. “He called MLB and wanted to come to the game,’’ said McGuirk. “We were very surprised. Of course, we said yes.’’

After losing the presidential election, Trump infamously called the secretary of state of Georgia and pressured him to fabricate the necessary amount of votes that would have pushed Trump over the top. Put another way, Trump wanted the top election official in McGuirk’s home state to commit massive election fraud.

“Of course, we said yes.”

But to hear Trump tell it, he was actually invited by Major League Baseball. In a statement issued on Saturday, he said,  “Looking forward to being at the World Series in Atlanta tonight. Thank you to the Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, and Randy Levine of the great New York Yankees, for the invite. Melania and are looking forward to a wonderful evening watching two great teams.”

It’s unclear what, if any position an executive for the Yankees would be in to invite Trump to a World Series in which his team is not even playing. Then again, it’s Trump, so he’s probably lying. Indeed, in a statement, MLB said, “He requested to attend the game.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has used a professional sporting event to make a culture war statement. In 2017, Vice President Mike Pence attended a Colts game in Indianapolis, which Trump said was “long planned.” When some members of the San Francisco 49ers took a knee during the national anthem, Trump said he instructed Pence to leave the game.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.