It had been a day or two since Donald Trump had done his last dumb racist thing, and he hadn’t yet taken on NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, so, of course it had to happen, and it just so happened that today was the day.
“Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!”
This, on Twitter, probably from the shitter, from the leader of the free world, who has otherwise muted himself on the important issues of the day, myriad though they are.
Setting the record straight, NASCAR ratings have been up 8 percent since the sport’s return in May, and an FBI investigation determined that there was indeed a noose placed in the garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway assigned to Wallace, the series’ only African-American driver, though the investigation also concluded that the noose had been in the garage stall since October 2019.
So, no, the ratings aren’t down, no, not a hoax, and honestly, the determination that the noose had been in that garage since October 2019 isn’t exactly exculpatory for NASCAR or the speedway.
The “flag decision,” natch, refers to the call by NASCAR to ban the display of the Confederate flag from NASCAR events.
That Trump would invoke that flag, representing a group that took up arms against the United States to protect the continued enslavement of black Americans, which has been used in the generations since the Civil War to remind black and white alike of the antebellum social order, speaks to his desperation, hopelessly behind in the polls, his support dwindling to a smaller and smaller base.
It’s telling that Trump seems to think he needs to get attention for himself defending the flag of a group of traitorous losers and picking public fights with prominent African-American athletes.
Ball’s in your court, Corey LaJoie.
Story by Chris Graham