Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace slams MLB for requiring photo ID to pick up tickets - while moving All-Stars Game from Georgia over new voter ID law
A Republican congresswoman has called out Major League Baseball for moving an All-Star game out of Georgia over its controversial new voter-ID law - while still requiring fans to show photo identification cards to pick up tickets.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested the league's ticket policy was hypocritical given its opposition to the law, which will require voters to provide a state ID number on their absentee ballot.
'Hey @MLB, this you?' Rep. Mace wrote, along with a screenshot of the Will Call policy at mlb.com.
The official policy states: 'Group and hospitality tickets left at Will Call will be held under one person's name, and that person will need a picture ID to pick up their tickets.'
It came as former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee tweeted a bizarre reference to Georgia's election law that saw him criticised as 'racist' and 'anti-Asian'.
'I've decided to 'identify' as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my 'values' and I'll probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Ain't America great?' Huckabee tweeted Saturday morning.
Huckabee appeared to be referring to the sweeping new legislation, which many have blasted as voter suppression, while also mocking those who oppose violence against Asian Americans.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested the league's stance was hypocritical given its opposition to the law, which will require voters to provide a state ID number on their absentee ballot
Atlanta lost Major League Baseball's summer All-Star Game on Friday over the league's objections to sweeping changes to Georgia voting laws that critics — including the CEOs of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola — have condemned as being too restrictive.
Coca-Cola also faced charges of hypocrisy, as the company requires valid ID to be admitted to its annual meeting of shareholders.
'At the entrance to the meeting, we will verify your registration and request to see your admission ticket and a valid form of photo identification, such as a driver’s license or passport,' the firm wrote in reference to its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders, held before the Covid pandemic.
The decision to pull the July 13 game from Atlanta's Truist Park amounts to the first economic backlash against Georgia for the voting law that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp quickly signed into law March 25.
Kemp has insisted the law's critics have mischaracterized what it does, yet GOP lawmakers adopted the changes largely in response to false claims of fraud in the 2020 elections by former President Donald Trump and his supporters.
The law includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft from Atlanta after discussions with individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of black players formed after the death of George Floyd last year, the commissioner said in a statement.
A new ballpark for the events wasn't immediately revealed.
Manfred said he also spoke with the Major League Baseball Players Association, which at the time of the commissioner's decision said it had still not taken a stance.
'I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB draft,' Manfred said.
'Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.'
The White House said President Joe Biden supports the decision.
'The President has made his concerns about the bill passed in Georgia clear, given its extreme provisions that impact the ability of so many citizens to cast their votes,' the White House said.
'He said earlier this week that if the decision was made by Major League Baseball to move the All-Star game, he would certainly support that decision – and now that MLB has made that choice, he certainly does.'
'Hey @MLB, this you?' Rep.Mace (pictured) wrote, along with a screenshot of the Will Call policy at mlb.com
Major League Baseball has decided to move the 2021 All-Star Game away from Truist Park in Atlanta because of Georgia's controversial new law
President Barack Obama also backed MLB, tweeting Saturday morning: 'Congratulations to @MLB for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all citizens.
'There's no better way for America's pastime to honor the great Hank Aaron, who always led by example.'
In a statement, Trump blasted the move and urged his supporters to 'boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections.'
Kemp called MLB's action a 'knee-jerk decision' that means 'cancel culture and woke political activists are coming for every aspect of your life, sports included. If the left doesn't agree with you, facts and the truth do not matter.'
'This attack on our state is the direct result of repeated lies from (President) Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams about a bill that expands access to the ballot box and ensures the integrity of our elections,' Kemp said in a statement, referring to the Democratic candidate whom he narrowly defeated in the 2018 election.
'I will not back down. Georgians will not be bullied.'
Georgia state House Speaker David Ralston, a powerful Republican, vowed to stand behind the new law, which adds strict identification requirements for voting absentee by mail, limits the use of ballot drop boxes and makes it a crime to hand out food or water to voters waiting in line, among many other provisions.
Former President Donald Trump called on supporters to 'boycott baseball' in a statement on Friday
Trump's statement calling to boycott baseball was posted to Twitter by the RSBN Network
Georgia Republicans say changes were needed to maintain voter confidence in the election system. Democrats and voting rights groups say the law will disproportionately affect communities of color.
On Wednesday, two of Georgia's most prominent business leaders sided with the law's opponents.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian labeled the law 'unacceptable,' while Coca-Cola chief executive James Quincey called the legislation a 'step backward.'
The Atlanta Braves issued a statement Friday saying the team is disappointed by Manfred's decision.
'We are saddened that fans will not be able to see this event in our city,' the team said. 'The Braves organization will continue to stress the importance of equal voting opportunities and we had hoped our city could use this event as a platform to enhance the discussion.'
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is to guide the National League All-Star team, applauded MLB for moving the game from Georgia.
'I think in a world now where people want and need to be heard — and in this particular case, people of color — for Major League Baseball to listen and do something about it, to be proactive, it sets a tone,' said Roberts, the son of a Black father and Japanese mother.
Abrams, who has championed voting rights since her loss to Kemp, blasted the new voting law. The Democrat is being closely watched to see if she seeks a rematch against Kemp in 2022.
'Georgia Republicans must renounce the terrible damage they have caused to our voting system and the harm they have inflicted on our economy,' Abrams said.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, said she supports MLB's decision. Atlanta will no doubt share in the economic loss, though the Braves' home stadium is now located outside the city, in suburban Cobb County.
'Unfortunately, the removal of the MLB All-Star Game from Georgia is likely the first of many dominoes to fall until the unnecessary barriers put in place to restrict access to the ballot box are removed,' Bottoms said in a statement.
Some Democrats from the Georgia county where the game was to be held said they oppose MLB's move. Lisa Cupid, the Black chairwoman of the Cobb County Commission, said she urged the league to stay rather than harm hotels and other businesses still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Democrat whose district includes the stadium, added: 'I don't know who Major League Baseball feels they are punishing. The governor, from his statement, has made clear he doesn't feel he is being punished.'
The relocation of high-profile sports events from cities in response to social issues has a long history in the U.S.
The Atlanta Braves, the All-Star Game's host team, criticized MLB's decision in a statement, saying the club is 'deeply disappointed'
The NFL originally awarded the 1993 Super Bowl to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, but decided in March 1991 to move it to Pasadena, California, after the state failed to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day an official holiday. Arizona became the last state to adopt an MLK Holiday when voters approved it in November 1992.
The NBA first scheduled its 2017 All-Star Game at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, then shifted it in July 2016 because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limited anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.
The law was partially repealed in 2017, and the 2019 All-Star Game was held in Charlotte.
Manfred said despite the change of venue, MLB still plans to use the All-Star Game this year to honor Hank Aaron, the Braves' Hall of Famer and former career home run champion who died on Jan. 22 at age 86.
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, a former teammate of Aaron's, applauded the move and said the late outfielder 'always had the rights of the people in the forefront of his mind and in his heart.'
'This is what Hank would have liked, even if it was his town,' Baker told reporters.
Former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee (pictured) has been slammed on Twitter for his 'racist' and 'anti-Asian' tweet amid incessant attacks on Asian Americans in an apparent reference to the Georgia law
It came as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was slammed for a 'racist' and 'anti-Asian' tweet claiming he will 'identify as Chinese' to win favor with Coca-Cola, Delta and Nike who all criticized Georgia's new voting law but work with Beijing dictators.
'I've decided to 'identify' as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my 'values' and I'll probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Ain't America great?' Huckabee tweeted Saturday morning.
Huckabee appeared to be referring to Georgia's sweeping new voting law, which many have blasted as voter suppression, while also mocking those who oppose hate and violence against Asian Americans.
'WHOA. Racist, much, Mike? The Evangelical Christians are OUT OF CONTROL with hate. You lead the way,' one person tweeted.
Another wrote: 'Wow is this appalling. Six Asian American women were massacred on March 16. Last weekend, an Asian woman your age was beaten and kicked in NYC and is still in hospital with broken bones and a concussion. Every day Asian/AAPI people are victimized by hate crimes. Delete this.'
'I've decided to 'identify' as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my 'values' and I'll probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Ain't America great?' Huckabee tweeted Saturday morning
California Congressman Ted Lieu tweeted: 'Hey Mike Huckabee, I asked around and Coke likes me, Delta agrees with my values, I wear Nikes and my hometown Dodgers won the World Series. But it's not because of my ethnicity. It's because I'm not a sh*thead like you who is adding fuel to anti-Asian hate.'
'Pretty racist and scummy. Hope Twitter bans you for fomenting anti-Asian hate,' another wrote.
Activist Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting in February 2018, shared: 'I have decided to identify you as a hater of America, Democracy, and Decency and to simply identify you as an a-- hole.'
Huckabee's tweet also hit out at the MLB, which yanked its All-Star game from Georgia after Gov Brian Kemp signed a new voting law that critics say will disproportionately affect communities of color.
The Republican governor said at a news conference that MLB 'caved to fear and lies from liberal activists' when it yanked the July 13 game from Atlanta's Truist Park. He added the decision will hurt working people in the state and have long-term consequences on the economy.
'I want to be clear: I will not be backing down from this fight. We will not be intimidated, and we will also not be silenced,' Kemp said.
