When President Donald Trump appeared at the World Series game for the Washington Nationals, boos echoed throughout the stadium. Trump throwing the first ball out for the Yankees in an empty stadium would prevent such an embarrassing photo-op, so it begs the question: why did he cancel it?
Conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin said that Trump's decision was just one in a long line of nonsense excuses that don't add up.
"Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!" Trump tweeted on Sunday.
Rubin noted that Trump had just spent a weekend playing golf, so if he cares so much about COVID-19 not to throw out a baseball, how is a full weekend at his club in Bedminister helpful to the pandemic?
She thinks that the real reason has more to do with Black Lives Matter than the coronavirus.
"Perhaps he would rather not go to Yankee Stadium because he might not be able to throw the 60 feet and 6 inches from the mound to home plate (certainly the climb down the 10-inch mound is not as treacherous as the West Point ramp)," Rubin speculated. "Maybe he shied away because he would have found himself at an event where the players all 'take a knee,' which has been a regular and warmly received feature in the new and abbreviated season. Whatever the reason, in refusing to go, he is avoiding a place where he’s likely to be confronted by those outside his bubble and be widely mocked."
It's just one of many in the long line of failed Trump excuses, she said. It was just weeks ago that Trump blamed "the weather" to prevent another failed campaign rally, this time in New Hampshire. He claimed that fear of the storms was the reason he canceled his campaign rally, but he was mocked by those questioning whether it was really that he couldn't generate a large enough crowd and it could end up like another "Tulsa."
It then prompted her to wonder if Trump will really be willing to show up to debates if the host isn't Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity. He has talked a big game, but when the time comes, will Trump really be willing to face off against Biden?
"He might be wise to beg off. It is hard to believe he could stick to whatever time limits are imposed for his debate answers rather than resort to filibustering," said Rubin. "He would be in grave peril of getting called out for not answering questions, being fact-checked in real-time and finding no place to hide when asked about his serial failures (especially the tens of thousands of Americans who died during the pandemic). He might be asked about any number of scandals. How much did you make from foreigners staying at your hotels? Did you commute Roger Stone’s sentence to keep him from incriminating you?"
She closed by predicting a 50-50 chance that Trump will bail on the debates.
"I think he would rather throw that pitch before he’d subject himself to debates," Rubin said.