WASHINGTON – About ten Latin American and African-American players from the baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, champion of the 2018 World Series, hosted a US President Donald Trump at a reception at the White House on Thursday, media reported. local communication.
Some of them had publicly explained the reason for their absence to the event and others had not.
One of those who detailed the reason was his coach, Alex Cora, who told reporters on Sunday that he was not going to the White House because of the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017 and left about 3,000 dead.
Cora, originally from Caguas, Puerto Rico, told the press that “some things at home are great,” but acknowledged that there is still much to be done.
“That’s our reality,” he said. “You know, it’s pretty hard, you know, going to celebrate when we’re where we are, I’d rather not go, and, you know, I just want to be consistent with everything.”
Along with Cora, some of the players who did not attend the White House on Thursday were the African-Americans Mookie Betts and David Price and the also Puerto Rican Christian Vazquez.
Despite the absences, Trump received the other members of the team that went to the presidential mansion.
“Throughout the 2018 season, the Red Sox were, frankly, unstoppable,” the President said, adding that they always played as “champions.”
Trump said he likes baseball, which he called “a very special game, a very special sport”, which he himself practiced in high school.
The President highlighted the contributions to the team of players who did attend the event as Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale, and Steve Pearce, but did not mention the absentees.
Asked by the press, the president said that he liked that team and defended the management of the crisis caused by Hurricane Maria of his Administration.
“The people of Puerto Rico should really like President Trump,” said the head of state.
Earlier this week, Trump received golfer Tiger Woods at the White House to give him the Medal of Freedom.
In the past, the President has frequently criticized the African-American players in the NFL, American football, who have protested the police violence against blacks kneeling in the matches during the national anthem (EFE).
