With cardboard cutouts of fans serving as an audience, baseball season is now in full swing.
President Donald Trump was set to throw the first pitch at a New York Yankees game on August 15, but he announced on Monday that his plans had been delayed.
Trump claimed this was because he was prioritizing his response to the "China Virus"—a derogatory term for the pandemic that's killed nearly 150 thousand Americans.
Trump's use of the term correlated with an uptick of hate crimes against Asian Americans.
The President's postponement came after two Yankees players—Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks—took a knee during the National Anthem in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
The players of both teams knelt before the National Anthem as well.
Nationals and Yankees take a knee for about 20 seconds before anthem. https://t.co/rLaauXGzTj— Gabe Lacques (@Gabe Lacques) 1595545019.0
Trump has routinely railed against displays of support for the Black Lives Matter movement during the National Anthem, particularly in regards to kneeling. He infamously called players who kneeled "sons of bitches" in 2017.
People quickly roasted Trump after the announcement.
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees Lol https://t.co/OM9oCXSE9S— The Lincoln Project (@The Lincoln Project) 1595796498.0
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees Well, a pitching mound is like a ramp, so this is probably for the best.— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1595805871.0
Trump generated controversy over the weekend when he posted a picture of him golfing with former Green Bay Packers player Brett Favre.
He shared the photo on the fourth day in a row that virus deaths in the United States topped a thousand.
This was partly the reason people found claims that he was too busy with his virus response to throw the first pitch absurd.
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees I guess his favorite golf course is open again.— Neal Katyal (@Neal Katyal) 1595793071.0
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees Somehow you were able to find the last two days free for golf just an hour south of Yanke… https://t.co/yqTemOlU0N— NoelCaslerComedy (@NoelCaslerComedy) 1595795266.0
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees ‘But I’ll have time to golf 7 times between now and then.’— Dana Goldberg (@Dana Goldberg) 1595813795.0
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees America, let's count how many times our busy president went golfing since the pandemic st… https://t.co/9DhiiiBE4k— Ron Ricci (@Ron Ricci) 1595862964.0
They called him out for his usage of the racist "China virus" term.
@realDonaldTrump @Yankees Trump needs to stop scapegoating Chinese Americans by calling the coronavirus the “China… https://t.co/PVLOxz1LEI— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD) 1595792823.0
The President assured that he would throw the pitch later in the season.