Washington Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki was more than excited to meet President Donald Trump. On Monday, the Nationals attended to White House to be honored for their World Series win and Suzuki was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat to support Trump. The president loved it so much, he gave Suzuki a hug. Trump also shoot Suzuki’s hand and said, “”What a job he did. I didn’t know that was going to happen.”
Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki walks up to a microphone outside the White House and whips out a #MAGA hat.
Check out @realDonaldTrump‘s reaction: pic.twitter.com/PdR8wFnfN8
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 4, 2019
“Suzuki played 85 games for the Nationals in the regular season, posting a .809 OPS with 17 homers and 63 RBI. He started 10 games in the postseason, going 3-for-30 with a home run,” USA Today wrote.
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Suzuki is not the only Nationals player to support Trump. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman presented Trump with his own Nationals No. 45 jersey.
“This is an incredible honor I’d like to think none of us will ever forget,” Zimmerman said. “We’d also like to thank for keeping everyone here safe in our country and continuing to make America the greatest country to live in the world.”
Not every Nationals player was in attendance, though. Pitcher Sean Doolittle was the first to publicly decline the invitation over the weekend. And told the Washington Post why he wouldn’t join his teammates at the White House.
“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle said, per The Washington Post. “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”
Doolittle also said he has family members who are LGBTQ and he also has a family member who’s autistic.
“I want to show support for them. I think that’s an important part of allyship, and I don’t want to turn my back on them,” Doolittle continued. “I have a brother-in-law who has autism, and [Trump] is a guy that mocked a disabled reporter. How would I explain that to him that I hung out with somebody who mocked the way that he talked or the way that he moves his hands? I can’t get past that stuff.”
The Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in seven games to win their first World Series in franchise history. They also became the first team in World Series history to win four games on the road.
