Republicans are Running Out of Sports to Watch
Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott made headlines when he reneged on throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener. Citing the MLB’s decision to move its summer All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s new voter law, the Republican went a step further by announcing a personal boycott of baseball. “It is shameful that America’s pastime is not only being influenced by partisan political politics, but also perpetuating false political narratives,” he wrote in an open letter to Rangers president Mike Leibman, adding that the state wouldn’t seek to host or participate in future events held by the league.
Like many of Abbott’s public statements, these declarations amount to little more than posturing in the name of peddling falsehoods. But when you step back and view them within the larger national narrative, they align with the widespread culture war that GOP lawmakers continue to wage in hopes of distracting voters from their attacks on democracy. Even more, they speak to the fact that, for all their talk of “cancel culture,” it’s clear that conservatives are the standard-bearers of the phenomenon they claim to so vehemently oppose.
What’s most fascinating about the governor’s decision, though, is that it continues Republicans’ targeting of professional sports. In less than a year, the GOP has lashed out against almost every major U.S. sport, starting with the NBA last summer. After a player-led campaign turned the league’s Orlando bubble into the biggest political platform in the history of American athletics, conservatives like insurrectionist man of the people Josh Hawley cried foul—imploring NBA commissioner Adam Silver to include “Back the Blue” in its messaging around social justice. ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski’s response to the senator’s request put it best: “F*ck you.”
In the months since, the GOP has deployed similar tactics against the WNBA (including former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who owned the Atlanta Dream before the team’s players helped push her out of the franchise) and the NFL over similar player protests. They even went after NASCAR after it banned the Confederate flag from its racetracks last July. Let me reiterate: Republicans called for their voters to boycott NASCAR.
Read more: https://texassignal.com/republicans-are-running-out-of-sports-to-watch/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I think guys like Trump like to watch the women play 
