Republican Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., And Representative Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, attacked President Biden and the Major League Baseball for the league’s decision to boycott Georgia because of its electoral law – and asking if that rigid stance will be extended to the Chinese communist regime.
The MLB announced this week that it would relocate its All-Star Game and the MLB draft in response to the state’s electoral law, which Republicans said will restore faith in state elections, but Democrats said it would restrict access to voting.
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“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports the right to vote for all Americans and is opposed to restrictions at the ballot box,” Commissioner Robert D. Manfred said in a statement.
But Rubio referred to recent reports that the baseball organization has extended its deal with China’s Tencent to broadcast games to the authoritarian country – which has cracked down on pro-democracy protests. MLB signed an agreement for the first time with the technology giant in 2018.
“@MLB gives in to the pressure and moves draft & #AllStarGame out of Georgia the same week they announce an agreement with a company backed by the genocidal Communist Party of # China. Why are we still listening to these corporate hypocrites agreed on taxes and regulations and anti-trust? “Rubio tweeted.
The law, signed by Governor Brian Kemp, imposes new restrictions on voting by mail, adds voter identification requirements and sets limits on the number of collection box locations and hours of operation. It reduces absentee voting time and eliminates a signature matching system in favor of providing a driver’s license, state ID or the last four digits of the social security number on the ballots to prove identity.
The law provides for two early voting Saturdays before the general election, an increase of just one, and says that two Sundays are optional. The law also prohibits outside groups from distributing free food or water to those waiting in line to vote. But the law allows for “self-service water from an autonomous container”.
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President Biden gave his opinion earlier this week, saying he would “strongly support” the MLB’s decision to move the game out of Georgia.
“Look at what happened across the board. The same people who are most victimized are the people who are leaders in these various sports, and that just isn’t right,” said Biden in an interview with ESPN. “This is Jim Crow on steroids, what they are doing in Georgia and 40 other states.”
Crenshaw hit Biden on that comparison and asked if the president intended to withdraw the United States from the Beijing Olympics.
“Hey, Joe Biden, are you going to boycott the Beijing Olympics because of the mass genocide?” he asked. “Or are you just hurting the small businesses in Atlanta that were planning the game of the stars?”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Biden’s comments on Friday and denied that Biden was explicitly calling for a boycott.
“Well, the president has made it clear that he believes – that he has great concerns about the bill passed in Georgia. He has consistently argued that it should be easier and not harder to vote. And he believes that making it a criminal act to hand over water for people waiting in line is not making it easier. We are also not calling from here for specific actions by companies, “she said.
Later asked whether this would extend to Beijing, Paski said the US Olympic Committee would have a “big role” in such a decision.
Fox News’s Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.