Trump criticizes NASCAR ban on Confederate flags and attacks Black driver, NFL and MLB teams
The president’s tweet comes as Trump has embraced culture wars in an effort to revive his reelection prospects.
www.politico.com
Donald Trump's campaign spent the weekend fending off criticism of a pair of presidential speeches panned as racially divisive and inflammatory.
On Monday, the president undercut his own team's efforts at damage control with a pair of tweets. The first criticized NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag from its races and demanded that the sport's top Black driver apologize for an episode that, by all accounts, was not his fault. The second chastised sports franchises considering ditching offensive team names.
"Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX?" Trump wrote on Twitter. "That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!"
Hours later Trump followed up with another tweet criticizing the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians, both of which announced they would review a potential name change after years of pressure from Native American groups.
"They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct," he wrote, before disparaging Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for promoting the results of a DNA test that showed she had a small percentage of Native American blood.
On Monday afternoon, Wallace tweeted out a message to "the next generation and little ones following my foot steps," saying that "your words and actions will always be held to a higher standard."
"You will always have people testing you. Seeing if they can knock you off your pedestal," Wallace said. He urged fans to "always deal with the hate being thrown at you with LOVE ... Even when it's HATE from the POTUS."
Asked why the president believed Wallace should apologize for something he was not personally involved in, McEnany said Trump felt it "would go a long way" if Wallace would acknowledge the results of the investigation — something the driver did two weeks ago when the investigation concluded.
Contrary to Trump's assertion, NASCAR — one of the first major sports to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic — saw its ratings increase immediately after banning the Confederate flag from its events. A Fox Sports executive said in a tweet that overnight ratings for the race that took place hours after NASCAR's ban was announced were up "+104% over the comparable race last season." The Talladega race, which was postponed a day because of rain, was the most-watched Monday race since 2014.
The network has seen an 8 percent bump in NASCAR viewership since resuming races in mid-May, said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports' executive vice president and head of strategy.
The president's tweet comes as Trump has embraced culture wars in an effort to revive his reelection prospects after polling has shown him consistently trailing former Vice President Joe Biden.
A new Gallup poll on Monday found that Trump's job approval had dipped to 38 percent, just 3 points above his all-time low.
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