Senator Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio Republicans criticize MLB for moving the All-Star Game Republican lawmakers ask the Biden administration for guidance on reopening the cruise industry Amazon union vote counting begins this week for Alabama warehouse MORE (R-Fla.) Sent a letter Monday to Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred asking if Manfred would renounce his membership in the exclusive Augusta National Golf Club following his decision to withdraw the Game of Stars 2021. from Atlanta to protest Georgia’s controversial new voting law.
Rubio personally shot the head of the major leagues after Manfred said the decision to withdraw the All-Star Game and the Georgia MLB Draft was “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.
“I am writing to ask if you intend to maintain your membership at Augusta National Golf Club. As you well know, the members-only club is located in the state of Georgia, ”Rubio wrote to Manfred.
Augusta National, the annual host of the Masters Tournament, one of the most prestigious golf tournaments, did not invite a black player to compete in the Masters until 1975 and the club itself did not admit its first black member until 1990.
Rubio hinted that Manfred was engaging in double standards by supporting the decision to eliminate the Georgia All-Star Game due to criticism that the state’s new voting law discriminates against black voters in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Rubio said the decision to move the All-Star Game “will have a greater impact on countless small and minority-owned businesses in and around Atlanta than the new election law.”
And he said it “smells of hypocrisy.”
Rubio also said he “has no illusions” that Manfred will end his August National membership because “doing so would require personal sacrifice, as opposed to the mark of corporate virtue brought about by moving the All Star Game from Atlanta.”
The Republican senator and potential candidate for the White House in 2024 also challenged Manfred to reevaluate baseball’s relationship with China and Cuba, two countries with a history of human rights violations.
“Will Major League Baseball now end its engagement with nations that don’t hold elections like China and Cuba? Is he going to end his lucrative financial relationship with Tencent, a company with deep ties to the Communist Party and actively helping the Chinese government hunt down and silence political dissidents? Rubio wrote.
The Florida senator predicted that Major League Baseball will not boycott China because it could result in a substantial drop in revenue.
“Pulling out the Georgia All-Star Game is an easy way to point out strengths without significant financial consequences. But speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party would imply a significant loss of revenue and the closure of a lucrative market, ”he wrote.
His letter follows calls from Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Georgia County Says Elimination of All-Star Game Will Cost Tourism $ 0 Million MSNBC Host: Boehner Goes After ‘Crazy’ Republicans Now It’s ‘Too Little, Too Late’ 2024 Republican hopefuls to White House lead opposition to Biden’s cabinet MORE (R-Texas), a fellow White House hopeful, and Mike lee
Michael (Mike) Shumway Lee Why Some Republicans Believe Vaccine Passports Will Backfire on Democrats Georgia County Says Elimination of All-Star Game Will Cost Tourism 0 Million Republican Senators Push to End MLB Antitrust Status (R-Utah), to end MLB’s antitrust exemption.
“@SenMikeLee and I will work hard to END MLB’s antitrust immunity,” Cruz tweeted Friday along with the hashtag: “#GowokeGobroke.”
Lee tweeted: “It is time for the federal government to stop granting special privileges to specific favored corporations, especially those that punish their political opponents.”