The Washington Nationals visited the White House — and some of their fans are not happy
Turns out at least a couple members of the World Series-winning Washington Nationals are fans of President Trump, which isn't sitting too well with some of their fans.
During the team's visit to the White House on Monday, catcher Kurt Suzuki put on a Make America Great Again hat and received a brief hug from Trump that was a reminiscent of a famous scene in Titanic, while the club's longest tenured player and first ever draft pick Ryan Zimmerman thanked Trump for "continuing to make America the greatest country to live in the world." That elicited some groans from the Nationals faithful.
I got a signed 2019 Ryan Zimmerman card for sale. Asking price is I'll pay to send it to you. https://t.co/hSHNRtqkhy
— Derek Evers (@derekevers) November 4, 2019
At the same time, several players including the team's star third baseman and soon-to-be-free agent Anthony Rendon and outspoken relief pitcher Sean Doolittle received praise for not showing up, though it's been noted the famously laid back Rendon isn't a big fan of the spotlight, generally speaking, so he might not have been making any strong political statement.
Congratulations to *my* @Nationals: Sean Doolittle, Anthony Rendon, Joe Ross, Javy Guerra, Wilmer Difo, Victor Robles, & Michael Taylor for winning the #WorldSeries and none of the others.
— Nick Cho • 조근형 (@NickCho) November 4, 2019
All in all, while Suzuki and Zimmerman might steal some headlines, most of the visit reportedly remained apolitical — at least as apolitical as a visit to the White House can get.
And it's over. Not a great look for the Nats go to the White House in the first place, but other than Suzuki wearing a MAGA hat and Zim thanking Trump, everyone was careful to keep their comments focused on the title run and not politics.
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 4, 2019