Trump Says the White House Visit is the Reason the Red Sox Are Good Now
He framed the fraught celebration as a good luck charm.
President Donald Trump shows off a Red Sox jersey presented to him during a ceremony welcoming the Boston Red Sox the 2018 World Series baseball champions to the White House, Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
It was an awkward, polarizing, gaffe-stricken affair, but Trump insists that last week’s Red Sox visit to the White House was, in fact, a good luck charm.
The president, who always has his eye on the ball, took took to Twitter Monday to claim responsibility for the team’s recent success. “Has anyone noticed that all the Boston @RedSox have done is WIN since coming to the White House!” he wrote. “Others also have done very well. The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!”
Has anyone noticed that all the Boston @RedSox have done is WIN since coming to the White House! Others also have done very well. The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
After a less-than-stellar start to the season, the Red Sox have gone three-for-three since the May 8 White House visit, and also won the two games leading up to it.
Trump’s quip comes after another fraught championship celebration under his watch, as several players and manager Alex Cora vowed to skip the visit. It also follows the Trump’s White House goofing twice in official communications: referring to the team as the “Red Socks,” and calling them the “2018 World Cup Series Champions.” We’ve seen two years of public feuds and mixed attendance at similar team visits with the president, which almost invariably end up sparking political spats.
So after all the talk about whether this whole spectacle is worth the angst anymore, Trump appears to be offering champions a reason to keep the traditional post-victory White House visit alive: magic.
