President Trump
Donald John Trump Trump’s second term plans remain a mystery to the Republican Party Trump to hold an outdoor rally in New Hampshire on Saturday Eighty-eight years of debt mercy MORE On Monday he rebuked NASCAR for banning the Confederate flag from his racing and attacked one of the sport’s best black drivers, Bubba Wallace, about two weeks after an investigation concluded into his claims that he found a rope at his garage stall. .
Trump asked if Wallace had apologized for what the President considered a “hoax”, referring to an incident in which a rope was reported in the driver’s garage at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. An investigation later found that a pull rope had been tied in a knot that looked like a rope months earlier, and that it was not an act of hatred directed at Wallace.
“@BubbaWallace apologized to all those great NASCAR drivers and officers who came to his aid, stood by him and were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to discover that it was all just another HOAX?” Trump tweeted. “That Flag decision has caused the lowest ratings EVER!”
@BubbaWallace apologized to all those great NASCAR drivers and officers who came to his aid, stood by him and were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to discover that it was all just another HOAX? That Flag decision has caused the lowest ratings EVER!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
Before the investigation ended, other drivers walked alongside Wallace’s car in a show of solidarity. NASCAR has since released photos of the rope, and Wallace expressed appreciation that the sport took the matter seriously.
The tweet marked the first time Trump intervened in the Wallace incident or NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag, despite the fact that both took place weeks ago.
NASCAR announced in early June that flag displays were banned at its events, saying it “runs counter to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry.”
The announcement came amid protests across the country over racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Trump, who has openly supported NASCAR and attended a race earlier this year, has increasingly focused on cultural issues in recent weeks as his poll numbers dwindle.
He spent the weekend of July 4 making a couple of speeches that praised monuments and statues and denounced those who tried to tear them apart or tear them down, and has threatened to veto a massive defense bill over the inclusion of an amendment that would change the names of military installations with the names of Confederate leaders.
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