(Matthew Doarnberger, Headline USA) Some Major League Baseball players have begun referencing former President Donald Trump during their on-the-field celebrations, alluding to Trump’s raised fist—sometimes with the other hand clasped their ears—in homage to the Republican nominee’s gestures after the July 13 attempt on his life.
When Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls recently hit a double off of the New York Yankees, he stood up at second base pumping his fist in the air clearly saying the words “fight, fight,” as Trump did while after being shot in the ear at his Pennsylvania rally.
As St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Alec Burleson rounded the bases after hitting a home run against the Atlanta Braves, he looked to his dugout as he grabbed his ear with one hand while raising his fist. The camera then showed the dugout with many of the players performing the same gesture toward Burleson.
BASED St. Louis Cardinals celebrated a home run against the Braves today by doing Trumps iconic gesture after surviving his assassination attempt 🙌🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/KmHuxG5LhT
— AllegianceToLiberty (@AllegianceTL) July 21, 2024
Despite these actions by the Cardinals appearing to clearly display a message of political support, veteran Cardinals player and designated hitter Matt Carpenter tried to downplay the notion that players were expressing their political views.
“This isn’t a political statement by any means. I don’t know where that came from,” he said.
“It’s slowly catching on. I don’t know who, or the first official guy to do it on the field,” he continued. “It picked up steam in this series, for sure. Definitely not a political statement. I think that’s a little off base here.”
During Trump’s first term, many teams and athletes were either hesitant to show support for him or were outright opposed to his presidency.
Only 10 out of the 20 sports champions during those four years decided to visit with the former president at the White House (as is a tradition with championship-winning teams).
MLB has received harsh backlash over the past few years for going “woke” at times—notably moving its 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta in protest of the state’s newly implemented election integrity law. That prompted then-President Trump to call for a league boycott.
The league also has had a troubled history of going against the values of many fans in its promotion of overtly LGBT causes.
The Los Angeles Dodgers drew controversy by inviting a group of cross-dressing “nuns” called the Sisters of Perpectual Indulgence to be honored at their 2023 “Pride Night.”
The league also partnered with the Trevor Project on what was supposed to be a “crisis line” for LGBT youth but was later discovered to redirect to a sexually explicit chat room.
