Her. Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio Republicans Blow MLB For Moving All-Star Game GOP Lawmakers Ask Biden’s Administration For Advice On Reopening Cruise Industry Amazon Union Begins This Week For Alabama Warehouse MORE (R-Fla.) Sent a letter Monday to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred asking if Manfred would give up his membership at the exclusive Augusta National Golf Club in the wake of the league’s decision to close out the 2021 All-Star Game To catch Atlanta to protest. Georgia’s controversial new voting law.
Rubio took a personal assault on the MLB head after Manfred said the decision to pull the All-Star Game and MLB Draft out of Georgia was “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
I’m writing to ask if you intend to keep your Augusta National Golf Club membership. 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 tournaments in golf, didn’t invite a black player to compete in the Masters until 1975, and the club itself didn’t drop its first black member until 1990 to.
Rubio suggested that Manfred was using a double standard in backing the decision to remove the All-Star Game from Georgia over criticism that the new state voting law discriminates against black voters in the metropolis of Atlanta.
Rubio said the decision to move the All-Star Game “will have a greater impact on countless small and minority businesses in and around Atlanta than the new electoral law ever will.”
And he said it “smells like hypocrisy.”
Rubio also said he has “no illusion” that Manfred will end his membership at August National because “to do so would require a personal sacrifice, contrary to the awakened corporate virtue of the All Star Game being moved out of Atlanta. ”
The GOP senator and potential White House candidate in 2024 also challenged Manfred to re-evaluate 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 countries that don’t hold elections at all, such as China and Cuba? Do you want to end your lucrative financial relationship with Tencent, a company with close ties to the Communist Party and actively helping the Chinese government to track down and silence political dissidents? Rubio wrote.
The Florida senator predicted that MLB will not boycott China as it could lead to a significant drop in revenues.
“Getting the All-Star game out of Georgia is an easy way to showcase virtues without significant financial consequences. But speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party would entail significant loss of revenue and rule out a lucrative market, ”he wrote.
His letter follows calls from Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Georgia County says All-Star Game removal will cost tourism. (R-Texas), a fellow White House hopeful, and Sen. Mike Lee
Michael (Mike) Shumway Lee Why Some Republicans Think Vaccine Passports Will Backfire on Georgia County Democrats, Says All-Star Game Removal Will Cost Tourism 0 Million GOP Senators Trying to End MLB Antitrust Status MORE (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 beneficiary companies, especially those that punish their political opponents.”