President Trump this morning “chastised NASCAR for banning the Confederate flag from its races and targeted Bubba Wallace, one of the sport's top Black stars, roughly two weeks after a noose was found in the driver's garage stall,” according to Brett Samuels of THE HILL. Trump tweeted, “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? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!" Samuels notes an investigation “concluded that noose had been in the stall for months and that it did not target Wallace, but photos of it made clear it was not a hoax.” The tweet marked the first time Trump has weighed in “on either the noose incident or NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag, even though both took place weeks ago.” Trump has been an “outspoken supporter of NASCAR” and attended the Daytona 500 earlier this year. NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick responded to Trump by tweeting, “We don't need an apology. We did what was right and we will do just fine without your support" (THEHILL.com, 7/6). However, the AP's Jenna Fryer notes Reddick has "deleted his tweet, which I find troubling" (TWITTER.com, 7/6).
TWITTER REAX: The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker writes Trump “kicks off the week by going after NASCAR’s only top black driver and criticizing the racing association’s decision to ban Confederate flags.” CNN’s S.E. Cupp: “Wherein the president believed the Cup Series’ only black driver should apologize to the sport’s white drivers for the noose in the garage…AND the sports’ ratings.” The Boston Globe’ Michael Silverman: “From the intersection of sports & racism, politics, media and division.” NASCAR writer Jeff Gluck: “Hard to believe this is a real tweet, but it is.”
